Bring My Soldier Home
by FreedomSeeker91
Summary: Follow the lives of Beca & Chloe as they try to navigate life as a military family. A series of one shots set in an AU universe.
1. Bring My Soldier Home

Raising two young kids on her own was not how Chloe Mitchell imagined her life going, but when she thought of why she had to do it alone, an instantaneous swelling of pride took hold.

You see Chloe wasn't a widow or a single parent, she was an army wife. Forced to endure her daily life without her partner by her side, because of a war ignited by the ego of two power hungry deviants, hellbent on being top dog.

But those were the cards they had been dealt and so she went about her day hoping and praying that her wife would return to her safe and sound. Just thinking of the sacrifice Beca was making for her country, so others didn't have to, she couldn't help but be awed by the woman she had chosen to spend her life with.

However, there was also the other side of the coin, the fear and the longing that came with being separated by war. Because no matter how skilled Beca was, how careful she was, war was brutal and unpredictable and that was something no amount of training could overcome.

That terrified Chloe, because the thought of someone knocking on her door, of being handed a folded up flag, those were nightmares she lived with that she hoped would never become her reality. All they had to do, all they could do, was wait it out and hope that they were one of the lucky ones.

Beca's decision to enlist in the army came about during her sophomore year in Barden. With the rise in terrorist attacks across the globe, war zones in the Middle East had become hot spots again and soldiers were being sent to the frontlines to bring a halt to any possible ISIS led uprisings.

Having been brought up an army brat, the urge to serve and protect had always been strong within her, the only thing that had almost kept her from leaving, was Chloe.

She had fallen hard for the redhead and Chloe had been incredibly hesitant to support her due to her disapproval of war. But Beca had explained quite clearly, she wasn't enlisting to participate in a war, no, Beca's intentions were much broader.

She wanted to enlist so that she could protect peoples freedom. Their religious freedom, political freedom, the freedom to love without restriction, the freedom to identify in whatever way a person feels best identifies who they are underneath the exterior they were given. The freedom to live freely without discrimination based on gender, race or nationality.

Beca wanted to help shape a country that was inclusive to all, not just the people who looked a certain way. Beca's desire to enlist wasn't born from a military state of mind but rather of a need to protect her country's democracy and its ability to build bridges not walls.

She didn't want to exist in a world run by people who believed they had the right to dictate how we should live or what lines we should fall into. Beca was aware of the fact that at that particular time, that very democracy was under threat and she wanted to be part of the solution.

So, with a reluctant heart, Chloe had supported her decision, because she couldn't have been more proud of the reasons why the love of her life was choosing to risk her own life to create a better world for everyone. It hurt to see Beca enlist, it hurt to be separated by training and the tiny brunette being shipped overseas, but even with all that distance and limited communication, their love for one another not only survived but thrived.

After Beca's first tour, they had become engaged and married shortly after, Chloe even completed her teacher training and secured a job at Columbus High School as an English teacher, meaning she and Beca were able to be close to base and be together.

They had been able to enjoy a few months together as a newly married couple before Beca had been shipped out again, enduring many more months apart.

Chloe hated the feeling of being separated from her wife, the mixed expressions of the people she talked to who found out her partner was serving overseas in the military, the look of gratitude for Beca's service to her country, and the look sympathy that they were apart because of such volatile circumstances.

But through it all, Beca always pulled through. The conflict in the Middle East had waned and US soldiers were being pulled out and brought home. Chloe could still remember that call. The relief and happiness that flooded her system as she thought of all the plans they had made and how they were going to finally get to put them into action.

And they did, the second Beca stepped foot off the plane. They spent time with family and friends, travelled around the country and for the first time, they settled into life as the Mitchell Family.

Within four months of Beca arriving home, they successfully managed to conceive a child, Chloe being the one to carry. Nine months later, along came their first bundle of joy, Riley Elise Mitchell. The young tot was the image of Chloe, instantly capturing Beca's heart.

Two years later, Beca made it known to her wife that she wanted to have another child, and that she wanted to carry, fearing that if she didn't do so at that time there would never be another window. It had taken a couple of tries but they eventually conceived their second child.

Beca's pregnancy hadn't been as smooth as Chloe's, with the brunette suffering sickness for a quite a long stretch of her pregnancy, but it had all been worth it when they welcomed the arrival of their second daughter Charlie Elizabeth Mitchell.

Charlie was every inch Beca Mitchell's twin, Chloe was besotted and beyond ecstatic that they had been blessed with miniature versions of themselves. Their family was complete and they couldn't wait to begin the next chapter of their lives.

But the next chapter had been halted by the election of Donald Trump to the US Presidency and his dangerous mind games with Kim Jong-un. Apparently when two power hungry looney tunes piss one another off, all hell can and will break loose.

And when that day came, Beca was hauled off back into war, giving her just enough time to say goodbye to her young daughters and wife before she was put on a plane straight for combat.

Riley was still too young to understand what war was and why her Mama had to leave her family, all she knew was that she didn't like it and she made that known as she clung to Beca, refusing to let her go.

Charlie wasn't even a year old yet and even though she couldn't understand anything that was going on, she could sense the unease that was around her and it was enough to cause upset.

And Chloe, well, to say she was pissed was beyond an understatement. But she wasn't angry with Beca, she was angry with the world around her. Angry that her family was being torn apart by some senseless war that had no business being ignited.

Angry that everywhere she looked she saw nothing but hostility and division. Every single day people arguing about who was right and who was wrong. Arguing over being on the left or being on the right. Arguing over the constitution and whose interpretation was to be of greater truth. Arguing over guns, politics, race, religion, gender. Every day just conflict, after conflict.

Senseless acts of violence piling up with no one taking responsibility, but everybody prepared to point the finger. The media accusing the government of lying and deceiving, the government accusing the media of spreading fake news.

Anger everywhere and all anyone could see were the differences that separated them. There was no common ground and while all of this was going on, Chloe's wife was overseas fighting for the right for the people in her country to live peacefully.

So yes, Chloe was angry. But she never let it show. No, instead she masked it behind her radiant smile, projecting happiness for anyone to see, her students, her friends, her family, strangers on the street, but more importantly, her daughters. Because she never wanted them to see that pain or anger.

However, on this particular day, a day that was supposed to be just like any other, Chloe found that sometimes bottling her shit up wasn't healthy, and that sometimes, ignorant people cannot be ignored, no matter how hard she tried.

Browsing through the supermarket, Chloe carefully studied the diaper section, making sure she picked up the right size this time. The day before, after the week from hell she had somehow managed to end up with toddler diapers for a baby who wasn't even a year old yet. Needless to say the previous night had been messy to say the least.

Aubrey pushed the cart alongside her, reading from a magazine balanced on the handle bar, rambling on a mile a minute about the latest going's on from inside the White House. Chloe for her part, wasn't really paying attention, simply nodding at various intervals to make it seem like she was. She had no interest in the White House, or its current resident. All she cared about was when her wife would be home.

"Chlo, are you sure Riley should be eating this kind of cereal, it's full of sugar," Aubrey asked, looking at the box of Coco Puffs that was now in her hand. Chloe turned and grabbed the box, dumping it back in the cart.

"Bree, she eats her fruit and veggies every day, drinks all natural juices and only gets candy on special occasions, I'm pretty sure a small bowl of cereal every now and again isn't going to set her on a path of self-destruction."

Aubrey furrowed her brows, sensing her best friend was more wound up than usual, she chose not to continue on with the subject. Turning and folding her arms, she watched as Chloe tossed the diapers into the cart and repositioned everything so that at checkout, everything could be packed in accordance to where it would be stored away at home.

"Chlo are you okay?" Aubrey asked and the redhead sighed, her shoulders sagging in defeat as she rubbed her hand over her face. She looked up at her best friend and nodded solemnly.

"Yeah, I just, you saw the news last night…," she trailed off not really wanting to go into detail but she didn't need to, Aubrey knew exactly what she had been talking about. A US army truck had been overturned and shot up, leaving multiple casualties and bodies in its wake. One of several in recent times.

Chloe hadn't heard anything from Beca in a few weeks and her nerves were shot to hell not knowing if she was okay. Aubrey and Stacie had assured her that if anything had happened she would've heard by now. It was enough to sate Chloe for a brief period but the more news reports that filtered through her tv screen the more uncertain she became.

Aubrey uncrossed her arms and reached out, pulling Chloe into a hug, stroking her back. The redhead just sank into her arms, grateful for the intimacy from something as simple as having someone hold her, even just for a minute.

But that didn't stop her from remembering that it wasn't Beca, and until her wife returned it never would be. Instead she would just have to settle for the comfort of cuddles with her daughters, and the sympathetic embraces of her family and friends.

"Beca is fine Chlo, you know how stubborn she is. She's not going anywhere except home to you and the girls," Aubrey sighed, pulling back to look her best friend in the eyes. Chloe smiled gratefully as they continued on with their shopping, turning the corner and down another aisle.

A man was standing by the newspaper rack slipping through one of the papers talking to another man, some other shoppers milling about. Chloe and Aubrey were picking up various different items and placing them in the cart, silently aware of the general shopping chatter going on around them. One man's voice seemed to stand out above the rest.

"It's about damn time somebody put a stop to it. The army is no place for women or queers. All it does is cause distraction and puts our men in danger." At that Chloe glanced up, looking around until her eyes landed on a man standing a few feet away. But she didn't say anything just listened for a moment, hoping that her ears had been deceiving her.

"Seriously the last thing my boy needs is to be dragging around a bunch of sissy's trying to prove a point. They never should've lifted the ban on women and homosexuals in combat."

Well that was it. Whatever grasp Chloe had on her emotions had completely dissipated and she could feel the heat rising in her cheeks as she shoved whatever she had been holding back onto the shelf and turned on her heel to face the man.

"How dare you," She said, causing the man and his buddy to turn towards her, everyone within listening distance suddenly stopping their own conversations to watch.

"How dare you talk down anyone brave enough to serve their country," She snarled, her anger only growing as she approached the man.

"There are people dying overseas for your protection, for your right to speak freely and rather than celebrating their bravery you're standing here shitting all over them because you're too fucking ignorant to see past your own hate!"

The man in turn was turning red in anger at being called out in front of an audience and he slammed the paper down on the counter next to him pointing his finger in her face.

"How dare me? How dare you? You don't know shit about me or who I am! Who are you to call me ignorant? My son is overseas fighting in this damn war and all I see in the newspapers is more of this liberal bullshit that has pulled our country down. This agenda that has done nothing but leave everyone below the middle class behind!" he shouted back, but Chloe wasn't done.

"Yeah, well my WIFE, is overseas fighting the same bullshit war we never should've been in. Yeah that's right, I said my wife. Not only is she a woman but she's gay," she snarled at the man, his face paling slightly at what she had said but enough to seem remotely sorry for what he had said.

"She has been awarded medals for her service and worked her way up the ranks, without the need to be dragged around like a sissy," she spat, the tears welling up in her eyes as she continued to speak.

"Our daughters wake up every morning asking where their mom is and when she's coming home and every day, I look at them and I tell them that their mom is away fighting the bad guys, that she's making sure that we're safe."

Chloe wiped away the tear that had fallen down her cheek, now acutely aware that everyone in the store was now watching and listening, but she didn't care, she was done pretending everything was okay.

"My wife, enlisted in the army so that everyone in this country could live freely. And the thanks she gets for that, is a piece of shit like you diminishing her entire existence because it doesn't fit into your world of how things should be."

At that, Aubrey's jaw dropped and her eyebrows shot to her hairline having never heard Chloe refer to anyone in such a way. But she didn't dare intervene. Because Chloe's emotions had been triggered and the only thing to do, was stand by and let her run out of steam in the knowledge that a supportive presence was nearby.

"I am proud of my wife, and all the men AND women who serve this country. Because unlike you, they put their lives on the line daily so that we don't have to. They stand on that front line to protect people like you, so that you can have the freedom to speak your mind, even if what you say comes from a place of bigotry and ignorance. But I'll be damned if I'm gonna stand by and let you talk down anyone brave enough to serve. They might not be able to hear you but I can and like hell am I gonna let my wife's bravery be diminished by anyone especially you."

By the time Chloe was done speaking, the place had gone quiet, then slowly but surely people began to clap, some going as far as to praise her for what she had said, but like always, there were the ones who were on the other side of the conversation who neither acknowledged her or what had just happened and returned to their shopping.

"C'mon Chloe, let's go home," Aubrey suggested as she gently grabbed the redhead by the arm and led her towards the checkout. Chloe, having suddenly realised what had just happened looked at her best friend and pulled money from her purse.

"I uh, I need a minute. C-can you just, sort pay for this and I'll meet you back at the car," she asked as she shoved the money into Aubrey's hand and walked out of the store. She came to a stop just outside the exit and leaned back against the wall, inhaling a deep breath of air.

A few onlookers watched her in concern so she quickly pulled the car keys from her purse and strode across the car park, unlocking the door of her 2017 Ford Expedition and climbing into the driver seat.

It didn't take long for Aubrey to exit the store with the bags of groceries, wilfully popping them in the trunk before taking her seat in the passenger side next to Chloe. She regarded her friends profile for a moment, contemplating whether or not to speak when the ginger beat her to it.

"I don't wanna talk about it Bree. I just wanna her home to the girls and forget this day ever happened." Aubrey simply nodded her head, reaching behind her for her seatbelt and securing it into place. Chloe put the car in drive and headed for home, more than eager to put the days events behind her.

Later that night, as Chloe finished up dinner with Aubrey and her husband Daniel, the phone rang. With her hands currently full with empty plates she politely asked her best friend to get the phone. As she set about washing the dishes, Aubrey appeared in the kitchen with the handsfree in her hand.

"Chloe, it's for you," She said, her face giving nothing away which made Chloe nervous as she dried her hands and reached out for the phone. With shaky hands she pressed the phone to her ear.

"Chloe Mitchell speaking," she said down the phone as Aubrey excused herself to give her privacy. An eternity seemed to pass as Chloe waited for what was on the other end of the call and then a voice spoke, and her heart stopped.

"Hey baby, it's me," came the voice of Beca Mitchell. Chloe instantly broke down into tears, her hand coming up to her mouth to try and drown out the sob that escaped her but it was useless. Hearing her wife's voice for the first in weeks had opened up a floodgate that couldn't be stopped.

"Oh baby don't cry," Beca pleaded, softly cooing down the phone, trying her best to console her wife and Chloe inhaled deep breaths to calm herself down, not wanting to waste whatever time she had on the phone with the brunette. Finally she found the power to speak.

"I m-miss you so much," She stuttered, her voice still shaking from the force of her emotions. She could practically hear Beca biting down on her lip to prevent herself from crying as the soldier replied.

"Baby I miss you too, so much. And the girls, God I can't wait to see them. I just want to hold them, and you. I want to be able to hold you all in my arms so I can never let you go."

Chloe cried again at that, because boy did that sound like a pretty sweet deal to her. Just then Beca spoke up and the words that left her mouth were enough to send Chloe's already unstable emotions into overdrive.

"I'm coming home Chlo. Tomorrow in fact. A bunch of us are being shipped out, I should be in Georgia by nightfall. I'm coming home to my girls."

And that was it, Chloe was in a heap on the floor. The woman she had been longing for, praying for, was coming home to her. Gripping the phone even tighter she pulled herself together and said,

"I love you so much Beca Mitchell."

The next day, Chloe had bundled her girls in the car, a convoy of family and friends behind her as she drove as quickly but as carefully as possible to the airport.

Riley kept asking a million questions, wondering if they were going on the plane, if they were going to Disneyland or if they could go visit the Trolls and hang out with Poppy and Branch. Chloe chuckled at this cause she was pretty sure where they were actually going was a million times better.

At the airport she spotted other families gathered around and quickly made the assumption that this was where Beca and the other soldiers would be arriving to. Chloe sat in an empty chair, more so cause her legs were quivering that much she thought she might collapse. Charlie perched in her lap sucking on her pacifier, gazing around at all of her surroundings.

Riley stood in front of her grandpa Beale yapping a mile a minute about the ins and outs of her day. It was tough being almost four years old, What with all that running around and day napping.

Before she knew it, rumblings of excitement started to echo around the arrivals lounge. When Chloe looked up she saw the first soldiers arriving through the double doors, family members instantly running up to meet them.

With shaky legs she stood up, tightening her grip on Charlie, her own mothers hand resting on her back keeping her steady, while Beca's own mother stood and kept watch for her daughter.

And then, just as she was beginning to grow light headed from holding her breath so long, she saw her, Beca, coming up the arrivals ramp with a fellow soldier next to her.

Chloe frowned when her wife came more into view, she was injured. Her arm was in a sling and she was walking with the aid of a crutch. There were little cuts and bruises on her face and it was then she noticed the other solider was carrying her duffle bag.

But the ache of seeing her wife hurt was suddenly replaced with the excitement of knowing her wife was home. Before she could say or do anything Riley caught sight of her mother and screamed out her delight.

"MAMA!" Came Riley's tiny voice as she ran as fast as her little legs would carry her. Upon hearing her daughters voice, Beca dropped her crutch and even with how difficult it was, dropped to her knee, pulling her arm free of the sling and caught the little lightening rocket shooting her way.

Riley's body shook with the force of her sobs, so happy to see her mother after being separated for so long. Beca held her tight, rubbing her back and running her fingers through her hair.

"I've missed you so much bug," Beca whimpered, inhaling the scent of innocence. Riley's arms were around her neck in a vice like grip but she someone how managed to pry them apart long enough to be able to grab a hold of her crutch and stand back up.

Once the she had the walking aid propped up she practically skipped towards Chloe in her haste to get to her, the redhead having relinquish her youngest daughter to her grandmother out of the fear of dropping her.

Chloe seeing Beca coming towards her from the short distance, and much like Riley fell into her wife's arms, peppering her face with kisses before burying herself in the safety of the brunettes neck.

"I love you so much," Chloe cried as she clung tighter to Beca, afraid that if she let go she would disappear, but Beca simply tightened her grip as best she could and held Chloe the way she'd been longing to hold her for months.

"I love you too, more than you'll ever know," Beca whispered back. Eventually when they pulled back, Beca leaned in and kissed Chloe with all the love and passion she could, and she could feel her wife doing the same. It felt so good to be home.

Finally they separated themselves and the rest of her family and friends welcomed her home but not before Beca was able to grab a hold of her youngest daughter, shocked at how much she had grown since she had been away.

Beca would be lying if she said she hadn't been apprehensive about seeing Charlie again because she was afraid that her daughter wouldn't recognise her. Sure Beca had Skyped home when possible but that was no way to guarantee that her infant daughter would recognise her or remember her.

And for a moment she thought her assumptions had been right as Charlie spent a moment observing her from her place in her Mama's arms. Chloe watched with baited breath, hoping that her youngest child would be able to connect the dots.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Charlie emitted a smile and a noise of recognition before burying her face into her Mama's neck, Beca allowing a tear of relief slip from her eye, quickly wiping it away.

After another brief moment, she reluctantly handed Charlie back to her grandma, the ache in her arm and leg making her feel unsteady. Slipping her arm back in the sling and the crutch back under her arm, she tipped her head at Chloe in a gesture for her to get close.

The redhead instantly slipped her arms around her wife's waist and leaned down to kiss her and Beca released a hum of appreciation. Their family and friends began to talk amongst themselves and it was then Chloe had to ask the question.

"Baby what happened?" She asked, one of her hands gently caressing Beca's torso, afraid to cause her harm. Beca clenched her jaw and released a deep sigh as she thought about the past couple of weeks.

"Our um, our truck came under fire, there was a shootout and before we knew it the truck exploded, they had shot at the gas tank to blow it up. We were lucky to escape," Beca said her tone low indicating that it was tough to talk about. Tears had escaped Chloe once she realised how close she came to losing her wife.

"Oh my God Bec's," she whimpered as she pulled her wife closer, pressing a kiss to her pulse point. Beca sighed as she sagged into her wife, this was what she had been missing for all those weeks.

"That's why I haven't been in contact the last couple of weeks. We were shipped out to a military hospital and with the language barrier…" she trailed off but Chloe was already shushing her.

"I don't care about all of that, all I care about, is that you're home and that you're okay. You are okay right?" she said, cupping Beca's face in her hands and gazing into her eyes and the shorter woman thought about her injuries.

"GSW to the right arm and left leg, but straight through clean shots with no long term problems expected to follow except for an aching reminder. I'll have a couple of weeks of physio to get back on my feet. They um, they also had to remove my spleen, it ruptured in the explosion but aside from being on medication for a couple of months I should be fine. We just uh, we have to be gentle for a while," Beca said eyeing Chloe who instantly caught on.

If all Chloe had to worry about was being gentle during sex she would take it, because Beca was home and that was all she cared about. But she couldn't help but wonder how long for and her wife must have sensed this because before she could wonder any longer Beca answered the question for her.

"I'm home Chloe, for good. I've been honourably discharged. I'm not going back."

And that was all Chloe needed to hear as she broke down, again, and wrapped Beca up in her arms, mindful of her aching body. Their moment was broken however by the arrival of a soldier, a tall man with a gentle smile on his face.

Beca looked up at him and smiled as she pulled back from Chloe's embrace but stayed close by. The man stuck out his hand to Chloe for her to shake as she introduced himself.

"First Lieutenant Chicago Walp, it's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Mitchell," he said, tucking his cap under his arm.

"I just wanted to introduce my family to the person that saved my life," he said and Chloe beamed with pride at her wife who was looking down bashfully. Beca didn't consider herself a hero in the slightest, she was just doing her duty.

"Dad, this is Captain Mitchell," he said as an older man approached from behind. The grateful smile on the mans face fell when he saw who his son was standing in front of. Chloe glanced up from gazing at her wife just in time to see the man she had argued with at the grocery store. Her blood running cold as she wrapped a protective arm around her wife. Lieutenant Walp and Beca oblivious to the animosity around them.

"Dad, this is the soldier that saved my life. If she hadn't pulled me from that truck when she did, I wouldn't be here right now."

The man didn't know what to do and Lieutenant Walp seemed confused at first before his father shook himself out of his daze and plastered the fakest smile on his face.

"Thank you so very much for saving my boy," he said as he stuck his hand out for Beca to shake. From behind them, Chloe exchanged a glance with Aubrey who had also recognised the man and couldn't believe what she was seeing. Beca meanwhile remained oblivious.

"Really it was nothing. No soldier left behind right," she said winking at her fellow soldier who smiled at her before realising he still had her duffle.

"Oh your bag. You need any help carrying it out to the car?" He asked and Beca gazed around at all the people behind her.

"I think I'm covered but thanks," she said and Chicago passed the bag off to Jesse who had been standing nearby. Then Chicago's face turned serious as he regarded Beca.

"I meant what I said, I owe you my life. You need anything you call me," he said and Beca smiled up at him, shaking his hand. As they continued to talk Chicago's dad turned to Chloe.

"I'm sorry okay," he said, though it sounded like the words leaving his mouth were causing him pain. Chloe tutted and scowled at him. Chicago might seem like a decent guy, but his dad was still a dick.

"Don't apologise to me. I'm not the one you shit all over. But remember this, in times of crisis, no one ever stops to consider gender, race or sexuality when their lives are in danger. All they see is the helping hand reaching out to save them. Remember that next time you wanna condemn someone for not fitting your outdated stereotypes."

With that Chloe stepped away from him and focused her attention back on her wife. Sliding up beside her she wrapped her arm around her waist and kissed her on the temple.

"You ready to go home?" She asked, giggling at the huge sigh of relief that escaped Beca as the brunette turned back to her family.

"God yes. I need a shower and snuggle time with my girls," she said and Riley cheered at the thought of cuddle time. Chloe smiled at her family as she grabbed Beca by the chin and pressed a sweet kiss to her lips.

"Sounds good to me," she replied as they made their way out of the airport. Various people stopped them along the way to thank Beca for her service, and she briefly engaged with them but for the most part kept moving. All she wanted to do was get home.

When they finally made it back to the Mitchell household, everyone else had taken their time to welcome Beca home, before leaving the family alone in peace. Beca was currently soaking in a hot shower, washing the long flight out of her system.

Chloe walked around the bedroom, picking up Beca's discarded army cammies from off the floor. She glanced at the patches on the shoulder, the pride she felt at what Beca had achieved outweighed by the fact that she was eternally grateful that her wife had been one of the lucky ones. That she had made it home.

As Beca walked out of the ensuite, Chloe smiled before reaching for the clothes on the bed and handing them to Beca so that she could change. Chloe gave her a hand, helping her slip her injured arm and leg through the arm and leg of Beca's t-shirt and sweats.

As Beca slipped the sling back on Chloe reached into her bedside cabinet and pulled out a small box, removing the contents inside. Walking back over to Beca who was seated on the bed, she stood between her legs and held up the item between her fingers.

Beca grinned as her wedding ring glistened in the light. She lifted her hand and removed the dud ring she had been wearing for months. Beca never wore her ring overseas for fear of losing or damaging it, so she wore a dud, leaving her treasured wedding band with Chloe.

The redhead grabbed a hold of her wife's hand and slipped the ring back into place, pressing a kiss to it and then reaching up and combing her hands through Beca's hair.

"I love you Beca Mitchell," She said leaning her head down towards Beca's lips. The brunette grinned up at her, wrapping her arm around her wife.

"I love you more Chloe Mitchell," she replied and then connected their lips in a sweet kiss. They carried on for another few moments before Chloe broke the kiss helping her wife to stand.

"C'mon, you promised cuddles and me and and the girls are cashing in on that promise right now," Chloe stated as Beca chuckled, wrapping her arms around her wife's neck and using her as a crutch as they descended the stairs.

Once Beca was settled in a comfortable position on the couch and Chloe had gathered up all the treats for their movie night, the redhead pulled up Trolls on the tv as per Riley's request and then grabbed Charlie from her play pen, or prison as Beca called it,

Riley cuddled up into Beca's side having been warmed by Chloe not to sit in her lap cause she was sore, but Bec wasn't satisfied with that and coaxed her daughter into her lap, making sure she was sitting with most of her weight on her right leg.

Then, lifting her arm, she pulled Chloe into her side, Charlie resting comfortably between the two of them, mostly on Chloe's lap.

Beca wasn't sure what heaven was like, but in that moment, she was pretty sure she had a fair idea. And Chloe, Chloe couldn't think of anywhere else she would rather be than on that couch with her wife and daughters with the rest of their lives ahead of them.

The world around them may be chaotic, hate would always rise up to try and destabilize society, but Chloe knew that love would always win in the end. Because it was stronger, more resilient, because Love is Louder.


	2. Heal My Wounded Soldier

She could feel the blistering heat, hear the ringing in her ears and feel the throbbing in her limbs and torso. The smoke that surrounded them was thick and heavy, she could barely breathe.

In the distance she could hear the screams of her fellow soldiers, the agony that they were in. To her left she could see one of them lying with his hand griping his thigh, a pool of blood beneath him and nothing where his lower leg should've been.

Beca couldn't register anything, the adrenaline from freeing the driver from the truck and rushing back to rescue Chicago still pumping through her veins. It wasn't until she herself had been dragged to safety down into a bunker after the truck exploded that the pain started to register.

"W-wha…" she tried to speak, but found she was in too much shock to form a coherent sentence. Two soldiers were hovering over her, one was assessing the damage, using makeshift tourniquets to stop the flow of blood from her arm and leg, while the other was calling for medical help.

"P-p-pic," she tried to say and Chicago instantly recognised what she meant by the way her hand was trying to grab at her vest. He reached inside and unzipped a pocket that soldiers used to store things like pictures, letters from home. Some even had letters prepared in case they didn't make it, the sad reality of the risk they were taking.

When his fingers came in contact with what he was searching for he pulled it out and instantly shoved it into Beca's hand, the brunette turning it over to reveal a plastic pouch covering a picture of Chloe and their daughters. She gazed at the picture for a long moment before gripping it tightly, tears streaming down her face at the thought that she might never see them again.

"I'm sorry Chloe," she cried, the pain intensifying the longer she went without any relief. In the distance she could hear the sound of gun fire coming to a halt as their attackers was subdued and then the unmistakable sound of a chopper coming from overhead.

She glanced up just in time to see soldiers rushing towards the bunker and dragging injured soldiers out, and then, her eyes started to grow heavy, a metallic taste in her mouth making her frown, and then nothing.

Beca bolted up from the bed, the action causing her considerable pain but no more so than the nightmare she had just woken up from. Sweat covered her skin, her sleep shirt practically stuck to her and her breathing laboured as she tried to both catch her breath and ease her pain.

She instantly placed a hand over the bandage on her torso, hoping she hadn't burst her surgical stitches, relief flooded her when she realised she hadn't. She raised a hand to her face and rubbed the remnants of sleep from her eyes.

Before she knew it, she could feel a warm body pressing against her back, an arm wrapping around her waist while the other came to settle over her shoulder, a hand resting against her heart. Warm lips pressed against her pulse point leaving a trail of soft kisses right up to her ear before a gentle voice whispered words of reassurance.

"It's okay Bec's, you're safe."

Beca reached up her hand and grabbed a hold of the one resting on her chest, squeezing it right before raising it to her lips and kissing it. She twisted her head a little so she could catch a glimpse of Chloe, whose head was resting on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," she replied, more than aware that her nightmares had been keeping the both of them up since she had arrived home. It was like no matter how hard she tried she couldn't escape it, couldn't leave it behind. All she wanted to do was move forward with her family, but the hellhole she had escaped from kept following her around.

Chloe had been more than patient. She understood that it wasn't easy. Beca had seen things, witnessed things that scarred her for her life. Her only wish was that she could help ease the pain. She had heard stories of soldiers who had suffered from PTSD and she didn't want to watch her wife suffer the same strain, or worse, the same fate.

She wanted to help Beca, to ease the burden somehow, but it was hard. Beca didn't want to unload those memories onto her, didn't want Chloe to know the horrors she had seen. She wanted to protect her wife and daughters from all of that but Chloe could see that it was taking its toll.

"C'mon," Chloe said as she gently tugged on her wife, "let's go take a shower, it'll relax you."

Beca didn't say anything just nodded and climbed out of the bed. She grabbed her crutch while Chloe grabbed her a change of sleepwear. They both entered the ensuite and Chloe switched on the shower to warm it up before helping Beca strip.

As her wife climbed under the stream of hot water, Chloe ran back into the bedroom and grabbed fresh bandages and tape then ran back to the ensuite, dumping them next to the sink as she stripped free of her own clothes, climbing into the shower behind her wife and hugging her tight from behind as the water cascaded down over them.

After a moment, Chloe reached around and grabbed the body wash, some herbal brand she had picked up at the health store that soothed aching muscles. She squeezed a generous amount onto her hands and began smoothing it across Beca's shoulders and back, gently kneading the muscles as she went.

Beca released a grateful moan, the combination of the hot water and her wife's touch doing just enough to calm her down. Once Chloe had finished rinsing off the soap, she pressed feather light kisses across her wife's neck and shoulders.

One of the hardest things for Chloe was seeing the scars on her wife's body. Every time she would return home from active duty, there would be new scars, new reminders of what she had been through. Chloe would ask about them but all she would receive was the censored version of events.

It sucked, but Chloe knew her wife wasn't purposely trying to withhold information, she just couldn't bring herself to talk about it in detail. It made Chloe's heart ache because she knew, if she could just get Beca to open up, then she could start to help shoulder the weight of the nightmares her wife fought. She could start to help her heal.

Beca turned around, her arms wrapping around Chloe and tugging her close, the redhead wrapping her arms around a pale slender neck, caressing it gently. Then she felt it, the soft trickle of a tear drop hitting her skin and she instinctively squeezed Beca tighter.

She wasn't sure why, but there was something that happened whenever Chloe and Beca were intimate together, whether it was in the shower together or after a round of passionate love making, when they were both naked and in their most vulnerable state, it was like all of Beca's walls came down and she allowed herself that moment to be fragile, to be vulnerable.

Wrapped up in Chloe's arms, their naked bodies flush together, that was where Beca felt safe. Because it was just the two of them alone, she could have that moment to lay bare her inner most feelings, figuratively and literally speaking.

Even if she didn't say the words, she could release the emotions.

"It's okay, I've got you," Chloe cooed as she pressed a kiss to the top of Beca's head. They stayed like that until the water turned lukewarm and then Chloe shut off the water and guided them both out of the shower, towelling off before Chloe dressed Beca's wounds.

That night they fell back to sleep, Chloe with her head resting on Beca's chest as she rubbed soothingly up and down her side, using her weight to ground her wife and keep her in the moment rather than caught up in the nightmares of her past.

PTSD took many different forms and crept up unexpectedly. Sometimes it was brought on by an image on the news, sometimes loud noises. The thing was, Beca had spent so many years on high alert, that it was like she couldn't snap out of it.

The crash of a glass to the floor would be enough to trigger a bad memory and have her reaching for a gun that she wasn't carrying anymore. While Beca's initial return home had been been fine, it seemed that the longer she was home, the more apparent her problems became.

A recent trip to the grocery store ended with Beca having a full blown panic attack in the car in the parking lot. People crowding her to welcome her home had made her fell suffocated, like she was back in that small bunker waiting out the bombs that were being reigned down on her squadron.

It took Chloe the best part of a half hour to calm her down and remind her that she was home and safe. All other plans for the day were scrapped in favour of returning home and laying on the couch.

The Fourth of July weekend was a family affair, all of their friends and extended family arriving for a BBQ and games with the kids. It had been a relaxed event with Beca throwing water balloons with the children and catching up with everyone's lives.

Chloe had watched from the porch with a grateful smile on her face, happy to see her wife in a positive environment and spending quality time with the kids. Beca loved her daughters, loved making them laugh, loved singing songs with them and to them, loved playing games. She was definitely the playful parent.

When a kid friendly game of football broke out in the back garden, Beca was the one to rally the kids and arrange them into tactical formations, which usually involved getting the kids to grab a hold of the adults ankles and weigh them down while Beca slowly ran to the end zone with Charlie in her arms.

It was peaceful, and Chloe hated that these moments were now considered luxuries. Every day was usually drowned out by talk of politics and war and it was exhausting. All the negativity, it just consumed too much of their day. So she was more than eager to make the most of carefree days like this.

That night, as the sun set and darkness took hold of the sky, Chloe's brothers, as well as some of the neighbours on the street, set to work on a fireworks display to end all firework displays.

Chloe had gotten little ear muffs for Charlie to drown out the really loud crack of the fireworks and to say she looked adorable in them was an understatement. All the kids were bursting with excitement, a combination of the fireworks, being allowed to stay up later than usual and the copious amounts of sugar they had consumed.

Luckily, Beca, Jesse, Stacie, Benji and Fat Amy had managed to run most of it out of them with some made up game Amy had come up with that involved the grown ups sitting on lawn chairs drinking beers while taking turns drenching the kids with a hose as they worked their way though an obstacle course if they stopped moving. Unethical, probably, effective, completely.

The kids had all huddled together like a pack waiting for the fireworks, the grown ups all standing around nearby keeping watch. It had been a fun filled day and Beca couldn't help but wrap her arms around Chloe from behind and hold her close, pressing sweet kisses to her neck.

"You want a top up babe?" She asked, noticing that the redheads glass of wine was running low. Chloe had stayed sober all day, more concerned with being the perfect host. Beca had downed a couple of beers but had decided by the evening that it was her wife's turn to have a little fun so she cut herself off. Her wife looked down at her glass and nodded her head.

"Please, but hurry back the fireworks are about to start," Chloe said as she handed Beca the glass, the brunette turning on her heel and making her way back inside the house. Aubrey smiled at the couple, loving nothing more than seeing them back together.

"She looks happy, relaxed," Aubrey said from her place next to her best friend. Chloe gave her a small smile and nodded her head, though her actions were a little stiff.

"She is, it's so good having her home. The girls are in heaven and it's nice you know, going to bed at night and waking up every morning and having her there," Chloe replied but Aubrey could sense the redheads hesitance.

"But…" She said, encouraging Chloe to elaborate. The redhead sighed as her gaze remained fixed on the kids just a few feet away from them.

"Some days are better than others. She's struggling and I can't get her to open up to me. There are moments when we're alone when it feels like she might be ready, but she just closes back up. I just, I want to help her," she sighed and Aubrey reached out to stroke her arm.

"I know you do Chloe. But we also need to be patient. Beca has seen things, probably done things that we can't even fathom. I don't think she's intentionally trying to build walls, I think she's just struggling to find the right way to deal with everything she's feeling."

Chloe nodded because she wholeheartedly agreed with what Aubrey was saying, but she was growing impatient, not with her wife, but with the situation they were in. She wanted to make things better and didn't know how until Beca approached her about it.

Before she could get lost in her musings the familiar flash of the fireworks caught her attention and she leaned down to pick Charlie up from stroller, holding her close and pointing out all the colours. The little girl stared up at the sky in awe having never seen anything like it before.

After five minutes had passed, she noticed that Beca still hadn't returned. Handing Charlie off to Aubrey, she jogged inside the house, calling out Beca's name, but there was no response.

When she approached the kitchen, she caught sight of what she thought was shattered glass on the floor and blood smeared on the tiles. Rushing around the island, the mess came in to you view and her heart jumped into her throat.

"Bec's, BECA," she shouted out rushing into the living room, the dining room, then back into the kitchen before heading for the stairs and bounding up the steps two at a time. She checked every room in her path before she finally hit the last room, their room and she opened the door.

There, sitting on the floor on the far side of the bed in dark, was her wife. Chloe slowly walked across the room, closing the distance between them, coming to a crouching position next to the brunette, the sight breaking her heart.

Beca was sat on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest and her hands covering her ears. One of them was dripping blood down a pale arm. Beca's eyes were closed and her cheeks were stained with tears.

If she listened closely, Chloe could hear the faint whispers of Beca begging for something but she didn't know what, but the pleading of 'Please, Please, Please' indicated that she was more than likely pleading for whatever was scaring her to go away.

Reaching out, Chloe gently pried her wife's hands from over her ears and called her name repeatedly to get her attention, firm but gentle in her approach. Beca eventually opened her eyes and Chloe could see how broken she was in that moment.

"Chlo," came Beca's hoarse response of recognition. Chloe nodded her head and gave her a reassuring smile, stroking her hair gently. Beca reached up and grabbed a hold of Chloe's shirt, tangling herself up in it as she tried to hold onto her reality. The redhead reached her own hands down and cupped the ones tugging on her shirt. Beca's gaze was locked firmly on her hands and the blood that was coating them and her wife's shirt.

"Chlo, I think, I think I'm broken," she whispered and Chloe couldn't contain the tears that welled up in her eyes. She tilted her head back and gazed up at the ceiling, hoping to stop their assault, she needed to be strong for her wife, she needed to be composed, even if Beca's words were currently causing an unbearable ache in her chest.

"It's okay baby, we're gonna fix you okay. We're gonna get you help and we're gonna, we're gonna work together okay. We'll do whatever it takes, you and me alright," she said, the conviction in her voice giving no room for argument.

Beca looked up at her with the most fragile look on her face, seeking out any sign of uncertainty in Chloe's eyes. But she didn't find any, just determination, and that was enough to make Beca feel safe and secure.

"O-okay," she mumbled before burying her forehead against Chloe's chest, the redhead wrapping her arms tight around her wife, allowing her to hide for as long as she needed to.

Chloe never wanted it to get to this, but she knew the signs, had read up on it. PTSD was dangerous and it had the ability to destroy people. But she wouldn't allow the suffering to consume them. She would not allow her wife's sacrifice for millions be her downfall.

She would make sure Beca got the help she needed, that she deserved. She would not allow her wife, the mother of her children, become one of the forgotten heroes. Chloe Mitchell would fix her wife, no matter how long it took, no matter how hard it got. Holding Beca tighter, she pressed her face into her wife's dark locks.

"I love you Bec's, I'm gonna put you back together. I promise."

Counselling had been a strange affair, Beca wasn't one for opening up to just anyone, especially people she just met. But her breakdown on the Fourth of July had been enough to scare her into taking action. She didn't want to be weak, she wanted to be strong for her wife and daughters.

So she went every week and talked her shit out with a counsellor who specialised in helping soldiers. It was draining at times, relieving so many of the horrors she had witnessed really sucked the life out of her. But being able to expel of it really did make it easier to deal with.

To Chloe's surprise, Beca had even asked her to sit in on some sessions, not the really heavy ones because she was still weary of revealing everything, but it was a step in the right direction and Chloe was more than happy to participate and help in whatever way she could.

The changes in Beca were even noticeable at home. Whenever she would become overwhelmed, she would stop what she was doing and count to ten, taking deep breaths as she did and then excuse herself from the situation so she could have some space to collect herself.

It seemed pretty minimal but it worked, the number of panic attacks having reduced significantly. Loud noises and anything that resembled gunfire or an explosion was still a problem but it was one they were working on and that was all that mattered.

One day, during a therapy session Chloe was sitting in on, the counsellor had asked Beca what her biggest fear was. There was a long pause as she thought about it and then with tears in her eyes and a quiver in her voice she answered.

"That I'll lose whatever grip I have left on my sanity. That one day I'll snap and hurt Chloe or our daughters. That I'll lose all sense of self control and won't be able to stop myself. I never, EVER, wanna hurt them but I'm afraid if I don't fix whatever it is that's broken I won't be able to control myself."

Chloe sobbed at this, because that had been something she had also feared. She knew in her heart that her Beca, the one she had been in love with since she first laid eyes on her in college, would never ever harm her or their daughters. But she also knew that PTSD could cause even the kindest of people to break, to lose control and cause the kind of hurt they once never would've been capable of.

It was the curse of war, it messed with peoples minds and made them lose sight of who they were. Beca admitting her fears and recognising that it could at some point become an issue, made Chloe feel so proud. Proud that her wife was prepared to talk about the hard stuff so that she could be helped and more importantly, it made Chloe feel safe. Safe in the knowledge that Beca would always do whatever she had to do to put her family's welfare first.

So as she sat next to her wife on that couch, she squeezed Beca's hand that was linked with her own between them and gave her a tearful smile that told her she was proud of her, and that she wasn't afraid. Raising their joined hands, Chloe pressed a kiss to the back of Beca's in reassurance.

"I love you."

Beca had been in counselling for going on three months, when one night, as Chloe sat in the living room with the glow of an open fire, the tv playing quietly in the background and a stack of papers she was almost finished grading on the coffee table in front of her, she approached her wife and said the four words Chloe had been longing to hear.

"I'm ready to talk."

After those four words were uttered, they spent the next several hours wrapped up in one another on the couch as Beca willingly rehashed every detail of the things she had seen overseas, the things she had done that made her feel like a monster.

There were times when Chloe's stomach bottomed out at what she heard, her heart aching for her wife and the decisions she'd had to make, not because she wanted to, but because she knew that if she didn't the number of casualties would've been far greater.

Now she understood why Beca was so broken. Because her wife had been forced to make decisions that conflicted with what her intentions had been. Beca wanted to make the world a better place but her tours had meant that she often had to carry out actions she never would've even contemplated before joining the army.

It was the internal conflict of hating what she had to do, but understanding that sometimes, you simply cannot save everyone and that at certain moments, you must make decisions that hurt a few for the safety of the majority. It sucked, but that was war.

There were no happy endings, no winners. People might've been able to console themselves with the fact that they beat the bad guy or that they won the war, but the reality of the situation was far more depressing, because all war created, was losers.

Children lose parents, parents lose their sons and daughters. Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, aunts, uncles, cousins, nobody was safe form the devastation of war. Sure there may be bad guys who were taken down in the end, but it's always the civilians and innocent bystanders who never caused any harm who suffered the most.

In that moment Chloe had a better understanding than ever before and her respect for her wife soared to all new heights. Reaching across she cupped Beca's face in her hands and gazed deep into her eyes.

"You are the, bravest, most selfless person I have ever known. You make me proud and you make our daughters proud every single day. No matter what happened over there I know in my heart that you did what you thought you needed to do to protect as many people as possible," she said, her tone giving no room for argument or debate as she stroked her wife's cheeks with her thumbs wiping away her tears.

"You are not a monster Beca Mitchell. You are a loving mother and wife and friend. Your moral integrity and willingness to do whatever it takes to ensure everyone can live freely blows me away. You are a role model to our daughters and you inspire me to do better every day. Your strength gives me strength. Not a single thing you've told me changes that. I love you and I will always love."

Beca leaned forward and rested her forehead against her wife's, sniffling as a few more tears escaped her. Hearing those words from Chloe healed something inside of her in that moment and made her fall in love all over again. She may have been Chloe's hero, but Chloe was her saviour.

"I love you Chlo, so much," Beca whispered before connecting their lips in a deep, passionate kiss. Chloe could feel all the air rushing from her lungs as she kissed back. The kisses grew hungrier and hands began to roam, it was in that instant that Chloe muttered about moving it upstairs to their bedroom.

As they bounded up the stairs, they eagerly tugged at buttons and fastenings, discarding of various items of clothing once inside the privacy of their bedroom, making sure to lock the door to prevent any late night visitors.

Chloe climbed onto the bed followed by her wife and Beca hovered over her, never breaking their kiss as they moved until all of a sudden, Beca stopped, pulled her head back and gazed lovingly up and down the length of Chloe's naked body, reaching up her hand and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You're so beautiful," she whispered earnestly, her wife blushing at the honesty in her tone, "I'm so lucky to have you."

Chloe reached up her hand and pressed it against her wife's chest feeling the cool metal of Beca's St. Michael medallion she still wore beneath her palm, a constant reminder of how blessed they were that the brunette had been one of the fortunate ones.

"No, I'm the lucky one."

With that she wrapped her arm around Beca's neck tugging her down and they made love for hours. It was passionate, it was raw, it was pure. For the first time in a long time it felt like all of the barriers that had been erected through Beca's experiences had been stripped away and they were just Beca and Chloe again.

They knew that Beca still had a long road ahead in her recovery, and that even with counselling, she would still carry around the physical, mental and emotional scars of her time serving in the military. But with time and the right kind of love, the pain would lessen, until the scares of her past were looked upon as medals of her bravery.

With a loving wife and two beautiful daughters, she had the whole world in her hands. They gave her hope, they were her reason for fighting back against the darkness, and this was one battle Beca Mitchell was determined to win.


	3. Chloe's Pregnancy Reveal

"Shit," Chloe whispered to herself as she gazed down at the positive pregnancy test in her hand, her emotions all over the place.

The redhead was ecstatic to be looking down at the result of the test, Chloe and Beca wanted nothing more than to add to their family, and the result was exactly what they had been hoping for.

The timing was just a little off. Beca had just received the news at the beginning of the week that members of her squadron who were still overseas, had been killed in an air raid, and to say the brunette had been devastated would be an understatement.

Those soldiers were like family to Beca, the brothers and sisters she never had and now, they were gone. Just like that, in the blink of an eye, no chance to say goodbye.

And now here Chloe stood, on what should've been the best day of their lives, wondering whether or not she should break the news to her wife. Beca's emotions were all over the place at the minute over losing her fellow soldiers and the thought that she may at some point be called up to return to active duty.

Chloe wasn't sure how she would take throwing a baby into the mix. But there was one thing she knew for certain, she had to tell her wife. She couldn't keep it from her. Shoving the stick in her back pocket, she washed her hands, fixed her hair in the mirror and then made her way downstairs to seek out her other half.

She knew exactly where to find her, because in situations like this there was only one place Beca would be, in the garage fixing up her 69 Chevy Camaro. The mechanics of working on the engine created a distraction for the brunette and gave her something to focus on and kept her mind off of things.

Chloe loved seeing her wife with that particular car because it was the very car Beca had driven them in on their first date. The first car Chloe had ever had car sex in and was the first car she and Beca had ever gone on a road trip in. The Chevy held many happy memories for the pair and it held just as much sentimental value for Chloe as it did Beca.

Sometimes, when Beca was overseas, Chloe would take the car for a drive around the neighbourhood to feel close to her wife, always careful not to damage it because she knew how much Beca loved that car. It had been a 16th birthday present, a fixer upper as Mr. Mitchell has called it.

Over the years, Beca had restored it to its original state of glory and rarely drove it these days. But Chloe knew that no matter how little it was used, Beca would never part with that car. In fact, they had made love in the backseat of the car the night Chloe had been inseminated. So it was almost like their good luck charm.

The Chevy was a part of the family, a family that was about to expand. Chloe stood in the doorway that gave access to the garage from the house. Beca was currently under the hood of the car, a set of wrenches rolled out next to her and the garage door open to make the most of the sunshine.

The brunette was focused, but Chloe could tell by the crinkle between her furrowed eyebrows that her mind wasn't completely at ease and that it was more than likely with her fellow fallen soldiers. Moving further into the open space Chloe called out to her wife to alert her to her presence.

"Baby," She said as she made her way closer to the brunette. Beca glanced up from the engine and put down the wrench she had been using, pulling a rag from her back pocket and wiping her hands clean of any oil or grease.

"Hey babe, what's up?" she asked, watching as Chloe perched herself on the edge of the open hood just in front of Beca. The redhead gazed up at her wife, her heart fluttering at how cute she looked with some grease smeared across her forehead, her skin glistening with sweat.

"I need to tell you something," Chloe said taking a hold of one of her wife's hands and playing with it, "I know it's not great timing with everything that's happened and that last couple of days have been really hard for you but…." before she could continue Beca squeezed her hands with the one her wife had been playing with.

"Hey, Chlo whatever is, you know you can tell me. Are you okay? Is everything…" this time Chloe cut her off.

"Everything's more than okay," she replied with a smile creeping up her face. Gazing into Beca's eyes she saw the love and the curiosity and she couldn't hold it in any longer, "I'm pregnant. We're going to have a baby."

Beca stood there for a moment, not moving, not saying anything and Chloe's face began to drop thinking that she had made a mistake and that she should've waited. But then, Beca dumped the rag she had been holding and with both arms, wrapped herself around her wife, holding her tight, face resting in the crook of Chloe's neck.

The redhead wasn't sure what to do for a minute but then she hugged her wife back. She felt hot tear drops fall against her neck and Beca's shoulders shake a little and knew her wife was crying, so she held her tighter.

The next thing she knew Beca was peppering the side of her neck with kisses and Chloe knew in that moment, that her wife was happy.

"I love you Chlo," Beca mumbled against the skin of Chloe's slender neck, before eventually pulling back and bringing her hands up to cup her wife's face, her own tear stained cheeks now visible to the redhead whose own eyes were welling up.

"I can't believe it, we're having a baby," Beca giggled and Chloe joined right in. It was the best news they could've hoped for. IVF was costly and wasn't always a guarantee so to hear that they had been successful felt like a blessing that was being given to them in the shape of the best gift possible.

Beca pressed her lips to Chloe's and kissed her with so much love and passion it took the air right out of her wife's lungs, and then Beca was placing her forehead against Chloe's gazing down as best she could as she placed her hand against her wife's still flat tummy.

Chloe wrapped both her hands around the back of her wife's head, smiling and biting her lip at the same time as she took in the look of awe on Beca's face.

"You're going to be a mommy," Chloe whispered and Beca looked up shaking her head at that statement.

"No, we're going to be mommy's," she said and Chloe couldn't stop the smile that broke out on her face, her heart feeling so full at the thought of what the future held for them.

Just as she was getting caught up in the moment, Beca swooped her up into her arms and before Chloe knew it, she was being placed in the back seat of the Chevy, Beca having hit the button to close the garage door before joining her and a couple of hours later, they had another memory to add to the Chevys long history.

Nine months later, they would welcome Riley Elise Mitchell to the world and their love would grow tenfold.


	4. Beca's Pregnancy Reveal

"Oh shit," Beca shrieked as she looked down at the positive pregnancy test. Even though she and Chloe had been expecting it, seeing the actual result was still pretty shocking.

Somehow the reality was far different from the idea. Were they ready for another baby? Was Beca really prepared to put her body through nine months of growth and change?

Well it was too late now she thought to herself as she ran her hand through her hair, clutching at the roots and pulling slightly out of nervousness before releasing it and dropping her hand down to her side.

The sound of the front door closing alerted her to the fact that Chloe and Riley were home from their play date at the park. Beca placed the pregnancy test on the side of the sink, washed her hands and then retreated down the stairs.

She spotted Riley in the living room sitting on the floor, a juice in one hand and her teddy under her other arm while she watched her cartoons. Beca crouched down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head as she passed by before continuing on towards the kitchen.

There, stood by the kitchen island, was Chloe unpacking groceries from the brown paper bags in front of her. Her hair was up in a messy high ponytail, wearing nothing more than a simple t-shirt and a pair of jeans, but to Beca, she looked stunning.

Beca rubbed her hands against her thighs, trying to rid of the sweat that was accumulating as she thought about the bun in her oven and how best to break the news to her wife. Before she could come up with the perfect answer though, Chloe caught sight of her and gave her one of those charming smiles.

"Hey baby," Chloe beamed as she walked around the island towards the pantry, opening the door to deposit of the items in her hands. Nerves got the better of Beca and before she knew it she was just blurting it out.

"I'm pregnant," she said, nothing more, nothing less, just those two words. Chloe quickly took a step back from the pantry and closed the door, looking at her wife with wide eyes.

"What?" She replied, and Beca was confused for a minute at the blank expression on her wife's face, thinking that maybe Chloe had changed her mind and didn't want to have another baby after all. Which she probably should've mentioned sooner considering the expense involved in getting pregnant.

Just as Beca was about to form the words to say it again, Chloe jumped in excitement and emitted a piercing scream before launching herself at her wife and hugging her tight. Beca was stunned by the action as she momentarily felt herself be lifted off the ground before being placed back down again.

"Oh my God I can't believe it!" Chloe beamed as she cupped both sides of her wife's face and pulled her into a hug.

"We're having another baby Bec's," the redhead squealed bouncing in places as she dropped her hands to Beca's arms and rubbed them lovingly.

Beca for her part didn't know what to say. She was excited sure but she was scared as hell. And that was saying a lot considering she'd been to war. When Chloe finally registered the look on Beca's face she realised something was off, her wife didn't seem as excited.

"Baby, is everything okay?" She asked, bringing her hands up to gently cup either side of a pale slender neck. Beca's mouth bobbed up and down for a moment before finally speaking.

"I'm scared," she finally said and Chloe frowned at her words. Not out of confusion but out of concern. Her thumbs gently rubbed soothing circles on Beca's neck, offering comfort.

"About what baby? We've done this before with Riley, it'll be a cake walk this time," she replied but Beca didn't look convinced. Seeing the confusion in Chloe's face she knew she needed to elaborate more on the why part of her fears.

"What if I get called back in to fight? We got lucky with Riley, the timing just worked out well enough for us to be able to do this together. What if after I've given birth I have to go away again. You'd be alone with a toddler and a baby. That's not fair on you Chlo."

Chloe swallowed thickly, the reminder that Beca could be called back into the thick of military action always playing on her mind. She knew that with her wife being pregnant they had been spared at least another year. But after that it was fair game and with military action intensifying again, the threat of separation was always a prominent one.

However Chloe wasn't going to allow the 'what ifs' rain on their happiness. She wasn't going to allow fear prevent them getting to experience the immense joy of welcoming another child. Right there in that moment they were just two parents to be to with a beautiful daughter already in their presence.

"Listen to me, forget about what could happen down the road. Right now, we're having a baby and that is THE best news. I want to us to take in and savour every second of this because this right here," Chloe said, resting her hand on her wife's flat tummy, "this is all that matters. Whatever comes after we'll deal with it, okay?"

Beca didn't have words to respond so she did the only thing she could think off. She tilted her head up and connected her lips to her wife's, Chloe's hands resting either side of her cheeks before pulling back and looking into those crystal blue eyes that left her weak at the knees.

"We're having another baby," Beca whispered, as a smile began to take over and Chloe melted at that, relieved that her wife was in fact taking what she said on board and living in the moment. She smiled back as she wrapped Beca in her arms.

"Yeah we are," She said as she kissed her wife again before they made their way into the living room and settled on the couch with their daughter to give her the news, she was going to be a big sister.

Nine months later, Charlie Elizabeth Mitchell graced the earth, and just like both her parents, Riley was thrilled. She finally had someone to play with.


	5. Beca's Pregnancy Scare

Chloe loved this, loved getting to be the protector for once. Beca had grown up in a military family, and although she had been an only child, had naturally developed a protective personality.

She was always the one defending the bullied kid in the school ground, was the first to defend anyone who she thought was being unfairly treated, and so it was only natural that in relationships, she took on that role too.

Chloe always felt safe around Beca, always felt like nothing bad would ever happen to her. When they had first started dating Beca would always make sure to walk Chloe to her door and wait until she was safely inside. When they would drive anywhere, Beca was extra cautious of speed limits and other road users.

When Beca found out that one of Chloe's jealous ex's had been spreading rumours about her to get back at her, it hadn't taken the small brunette long to track him down and use her military training to humiliate him.

And then there were the smaller things, like how even in her sleep, Beca would roll into Chloe's back in the middle of the night and wrap her up tight in her arms to let her know she was there. Or how she would compliment Chloe on how beautiful she was every day because she knew the redhead had insecurities and wanted her to know that to Beca, she was the most beautiful woman on the planet.

When Chloe had been pregnant with Riley, Beca had been extra attentive, extra supportive and extra protective. Massaging her feet, catering to her cravings, she was the perfect partner.

So when Beca became pregnant with their second daughter, Chloe had relished the opportunity to step into Beca's shoes and be that person for her. It wasn't that Chloe had been complacent before, she did her fair share in their relationship as well.

But with Beca's background, she had learned to be quite self sufficient early on in life and so being pampered or taking a backseat didn't come quite so easily to her. But in her pregnant state, she didn't have much of a choice but to rely on Chloe more than she had, and the redhead was going to take the opportunity to show Beca once and for all that she didn't always have to be the protector, that Chloe could step up to the role too.

Morning sickness had been a killer for the soldier, especially in the first three months. Chloe would always be there to hold her hair, rubbing her back soothingly, dry toast and ginger ale ready and waiting.

She rubbed the aches from Beca's back, made sure she took naps when exhaustion kicked in, and always made sure that while Riley had her one on one time with Mama, that Beca didn't overexert herself in some attempt to compensate for not being able to play with her daughter like she normally would.

Cravings had been catered to, reassurances had been made that Beca did not in fact look like a beached whale. Chloe had been there every step of the way, making her presence known, making Beca aware of the fact that they were a team. Shooting down any insecurities the brunette may have had about being pregnant.

When Beca had suffered terrible pains around the 6 month mark, Chloe was given her biggest opportunity to show her wife that she was there, and that in Chloe's hands, she was safe.

"C-Chlo, I'm bleeding," Beca whimpered, as she stood in the doorway of the kitchen, having just returned from the bathroom. The brunette had started getting pains in her lower abdomen and had retreated to the bathroom only to discover something wasn't quite right.

Chloe, who had been chopping vegetables to make a homemade soup, quickly dropped the knife and wiped her hands in the towel before rushing around the kitchen island, taking Beca into her arms.

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm going to call Aubrey to come over and watch Ry and we'll go to the hospital okay," she said, cupping her wife's face in her hands wiping at her tears. It broke her heart to see the pain in Beca's eyes but she refused to allow any negative thoughts infiltrate her mind.

It took Aubrey 10 minutes after receiving the call to arrive at the Mitchell household and then Chloe and Beca were on their way. Chloe could hear the small whines and groans escaping her wife on the drive over.

Reaching across the centre console, she grabbed a hold of Beca's hand and raised it to her lips, kissing it tenderly before hugging it to her chest.

"It's gonna be okay Bec's. Just keep breathing we're almost there," she reassured. Even though she was scared to death for the welfare of her wife and unborn child, there was no way in hell she was going to let Beca see that.

When they arrived at the hospital, Chloe had helped Beca to the front desk and quickly explained what was wrong. Within an instant they were being carted off to a room to be examined by a doctor.

After some tests and an ultrasound, they had been informed that Beca was suffering from a condition known as placenta previa. While some pregnancies experienced more problems later on, they had been assured that many if not most pregnancies could still continue just fine as long as they were careful and Beca got plenty of rest.

They had been told to check in with their OBGYN every couple of weeks to monitor the pregnancy but once the ultrasound was complete, they had been informed Beca could return home. Once the doctor left the room, the brunette had sat up and dangled her legs over the side of the bed.

Chloe had stood up from her seat and once she was close enough Beca had pulled her close and buried herself in her wife's arms. Chloe instantly wrapped her arms tight around the smaller woman.

"God, of course I'd find a way to screw up being pregnant," Beca said in a chastising tone. Chloe frowned at this and pulled back, resting her hands on either side of Beca's face.

"Hey, don't you dare blame yourself for this. These things just happen. You have done everything right, there is no way you could've stopped this," Chloe reassured staring into Beca's tear filled eyes.

"You are an amazing mother to Riley and you will be an amazing mother to this little one," Chloe said as she rested one of her hands on her wife's pregnant belly.

"And I'm gonna be there every step of the way to make sure of it. I am not gonna let anything happen to you or our baby. In three months we're gonna be together as a family welcoming our newest addition to the world and this will all have been a long forgotten memory."

Beca stared up at Chloe with all the gratitude in the world on her face. Somehow, and wasn't sure how, the redhead always had a way of making everything okay no matter the circumstances.

It was one of the reasons she had fallen in love with her. Chloe may have always said Beca was her protector, but in all honesty, it was Chloe who took care of them. Because if it wasn't for the redhead always making Beca feel loved and secure, she wouldn't have had the strength to be the strong shoulders her family rested upon.

"I love you," Beca whispered as she pulled Chloe close. The redhead simply smiled and pressed their lips together.

"I love you too, both of you," she replied gently rubbing Beca's belly.


	6. Chloe's Nightmare

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Beca was supposed to come home to them. They were supposed to watch their kids grow up and she and Chloe would grow old together. But that will never happen now.

Gazing down at the coffin that had been lowered into the ground, Chloe clung to the folded up flag in her arms. As the final gunshot rang out, Chloe flinched. The acknowledgement of a fallen soldier piercing her heart like a knife.

Breathing felt impossible. Every inhale and exhale just amplifying the ache in her chest. She tried so hard to keep it together for her daughters but she couldn't. The pain was just too much.

The love of her life had been taken away from her and there was nothing she could do to bring her back. She would never hold her wife again, never kiss her, make love to her. She was just gone, and Chloe didn't know how to deal with that.

It didn't seem real. There were fleeting moments where she would pick up the phone to call her wife or sit down to write her a letter only to realise Beca would never hear the call, would never read that letter.

She would never run around the backyard with Riley or push her on the swings. She would never see Charlie take her first steps. She wouldn't be there for their first day at school or their graduation. She wouldn't see them walk down the aisle on their wedding days or hold her grandchildren.

Beca Mitchell was gone, along with a part of Chloe she would never get back. Her heart. The only thing keeping her going at this point, was her love for her daughters. She felt like she couldn't go on, but for Riley and Charlie she would. She would be strong for them and she would make sure that they never, ever, forgot Beca.

As she gazed down at the flag in her arms, her mind instantly brought her back to that faithful day when her life was changed forever.

Chloe had been in the kitchen with Jesse, Beca's best friend, as he fixed some plumbing issues with the sink. Charlie was in her high chair, babbling away as some kids cartoon played on the tv screen. Riley was colouring in a picture of a mermaid.

There was laughter filling the space as Jesse shared a story from back when he and Beca were teens. Mr. Mitchell had decided to teach them the mechanics of cars to prepare them for learning to drive. To say it hadn't gone well would be an understatement. They were washing oil out of their hair and clothes for weeks.

Chloe loved it, loved hearing stories about her wife from before they met. It made her feel close to her. The trip down memory lane had been broken by the sound of the doorbell and she had quickly excused herself to answer.

But there, waiting on the other side, were two soldiers dressed in their army dress, hats tucked under their arms and a note in their hands. She can still hear the words as clear as day as they informed her of her loss, like it was some sick routine. The sad reality, it was routine.

"Mrs. Mitchell, we regret to inform you that your wife Beca Mitchell was killed while on active duty. As officers of the US military, we wish to offer our sincerest condolences…."

On and on he went, speaking words Chloe could no longer hear. Everything was drowned out, all she could recall was Jesse rushing to her and catching her before she hit the ground, her sobs ringing out throughout the house. Riley stood in the doorway, her teddy bear tucked under her arm, biting at the tip of her finger as she gazed from her mommy to the two tall men standing at the door.

That had been a week ago. Now here she stood, gazing down into her wife's open grave. She rested her hand over her neck and felt the cool metal of Beca's St. Michael medallion around it and the wedding ring that now joined it.

She glanced up and just beyond in the distance next to a large oak tree, she saw something she couldn't believe. Beca. For a second Chloe thought she was going crazy, and she began to move in the direction of the woman she missed the most.

"Beca, BECA!" Chloe called out as she began to speed up, suddenly finding herself jogging, but Beca didn't wait, she turned and began to walk away. Chloe ran as fast as she could and when she was close enough she reached out to grab a hold of her, shouting her name.

"Beca!…." Chloe screamed as she jolted awake. Her heart was in her throat, barely able to catch a breath as she acknowledged her surroundings. Then she felt her wife shift next to her in the bed and sit up as best she could.

"Chlo," Beca said as she grabbed a hold of Chloe's hand and gazed at her with tired eyes. Chloe let the tears slip down her cheeks as she turned fully and latched onto her wife, hugging her as tight as she could without hurting her. Beca just let her lean into her and rested her good arm around her neck, stroking her hair with her hand.

"It's okay, it was just a dream," Beca soothed as she coaxed her wife into laying back down with her. Chloe shook her head as she snuggled close to her wife and rested her head on her shoulder.

"Except it wasn't a dream though was it Bec's," Chloe stated wiping the tears from her cheeks. "You got hurt protecting people, I could've lost you. The dream might've taken you away from me but real life almost did too and I just…" She trailed off getting choked up. Beca nodded her head she pressed her lips to the top of Chloe's head.

"I get it Chlo, believe me I do. But I'm here, I'm home with you and the girls. Yeah I got hurt, but it could've been so much worse. But you know what got me through?" She said and Chloe shook her head no and then watched as Beca shifted away from her to her bedside drawer, pulling out something in a plastic cover.

When Beca resettled Chloe finally caught a glimpse of what her wife was holding. A picture of Chloe, Riley and Charlie with the words 'I promise' on the back. Chloe frowned at that so Beca explained.

"When I left I made a promise to you and the girls that I would come home," Beca said and then gestured to the medallion around her neck. "You gave me this for protection," she said before holding the picture up towards her wife, "but this is what brought me home."

Chloe's eyes welled up and she pressed a kiss to her wife's lips before snuggling her face into the side of her neck, breathing in her scent. She felt Beca lean down and press a kiss to the side of her head and whisper 'I love you' and in that moment Chloe felt that wave of security wash over her.

Beca was home. Her nightmare a long forgotten memory as she felt Beca shift and tug her into her side more securely with her good arm. Chloe rested her hand on her wife's stomach, careful of the bandaged area that was still tender, and pressed a kiss to her wife's pulse point.

"I love you too."


	7. A Soldiers Proposal

Tonight was the night. Beca Mitchell was going to ask Chloe Beale to be hers forever. She was nervous as hell sure, but her time in combat had been an all to real reminder that time was valuable, especially their time together.

Being in the army meant that there were many things Beca was uncertain about in life. But the one thing she knew to be true, that made more sense to her than anything else ever could, was that Chloe Beale was a gift from some higher power, one Beca was thankful for every single day.

She loved that woman more than she thought was humanly possible, more than she thought she was capable of, and to have Chloe love her back and want to be with her, well for Beca Mitchell, that was the greatest gift ever.

Sitting in the living room, she fiddled with the black velvet box in her hand, waiting patiently for her girlfriend to finish getting ready. Beca had been home from Afghanistan for little over a week and to celebrate, Chloe had commandeered her parents lake house, which unbeknownst to her, Beca had already asked for as part of her planned proposal.

You see, that lake house was a big part of Chloe's childhood. Some of her best and fondest memories occurred in that house and around that lake. Time spent with her family having BBQ's, playing games and getting up to mischief. It was also the first place Chloe brought Beca when they first went away together as a couple.

Being broke college students they didn't have many options, but with the perfect weather and her parents huge house located on a big open lake, it was ideal for them. It was the first place they had ever made love and the place where they officially sealed their relationship.

So of course Beca couldn't think of anywhere else more perfect to propose. While Chloe had been out picking up groceries, the brunette had gotten to work in setting up the perfect scene for her proposal, down on the dock overlooking the lake, with lanterns illuminating the area with a candlelit glow all along the pathway down to the dock, right to the edge, the sun setting over them.

She had even set up a speaker system to play music, some of their favourite love songs and songs that meant a lot to them as a couple. She'd had to work extra hard to keep Chloe away from the back of the house so as not to ruin the surprise but it had worked.

And now, having asked the woman she hoped to make her wife for an evening stroll, she waited rather impatiently for the redhead to join her in the living room so they could be on their way. When the sound of footsteps on the wooden stairs resounded in her ears, she quickly pulled the ring from the box and shoved it in her pocket, tossing the box under a couch pillow.

When Chloe came into view Beca was left in awe. She was wearing nothing more than a pair of skinny blue jeans, and an off the shoulder floral print blouse and her hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail, the ginger waves flowing down to the top of her shoulders. She was wearing minimal makeup, but to Beca she still looked gorgeous.

This was her favourite version of Chloe, simple, natural but still effortlessly gorgeous. She had a pair of white Puma's on her feet, adding to her dressy casual appearance and to Beca, it just made her love her even more. Chloe looked stunning when she was dressed up for an event, but Chloe in her most comfortable, relaxed state, would always be the vision of the redhead she dreamed off most.

"You ready to go?," Chloe asked with a small smile on her face. Beca stood up, patting the pocket of her jeans to check the ring was still there before nodding her head with a smile to match Chloe's.

"Yep," she replied, reaching out and lacing her hand with the redheads. Walking out towards the back of the house, Beca opened the door and allowed Chloe to exit first. As she took her first step out onto the back porch, she suddenly stopped when her feet came in contact with white rose petals.

"Bec wh-," Chloe started to say before cutting herself off as she glanced up and noticed that the rose petals formed a pathway all the way down to the dock, candle lanterns lining either side creating a romantic ambiance against the backdrop of an orange and purple sky, the sun getting ready to set.

Beca stepped out onto the porch and laced her fingers with Chloe's, gently tugging on her hand to encourage her to follow. Chloe looked down at the pathway in awe, her eyes following the trail all the way down to the dock that was covered in lanterns and scattered rose petals.

"Oh my God, Bec's, it's beautiful," Chloe said, her hand resting against her chest as she turned her attention back to her girlfriend. Beca simply smiled back at her before pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"A beautiful girl deserves beautiful things," she replied, before guiding them down to the dock. There was a rather large back yard separating the house from the dock. The Beale family were pretty well off and so their lake house was more of a lake mansion with plenty of land around it.

The house even had a boat, though Mr. Beale had it stored away at a yacht yard when the house wasn't being used, and since neither Beca nor Chloe had any particular interest in using it, they never bothered taking it out.

There was plenty of green around the place and an enclosed tennis court off to the side of the house. There was a pool and a jacuzzi and what Chloe's father referred to as a 'state of the art' BBQ set up built into the porch. The house even had an outdoor remote controlled fire place with a tv mounted into the wall above it where Mr. Beale and his sons would often watch sports, and a fire pit had been built just down by the lake where they would all sit around making s'mores when Chloe and her brothers were kids.

Beca had been in awe when she had first seen it and was still in awe today. It was magnificent and she only wished her role in the army prevented them from visiting often.

After about a four minute walk, they finally reached the dock, Chloe beaming at the sight of all the rose petals and lanterns and the speaker set up on the wooden rail to one side that lead to the steps where the boat would normally be.

Beca picked up the remote and pressed play, Rascal Flatts Bless The Broken Road streaming out into evening air. Beca put the remote down and stretched out her hand towards Chloe.

"May I have this dance?" She asked and Chloe bit the side of her lip to stop her face from splitting in two with the smile that was threatening to escape her. She nodded her head and placed her hand in her girlfriends, stepping closer and rested her other hand on Beca's shoulder.

The soldier pulled her closer by wrapping her arm around the redheads waist, their bodies now flush together as they swayed gently to the music, the sun now really beginning to make its descent for the night. Chloe was in heaven. She had not been expecting this and she couldn't help but bask in the romance of it all.

With Beca being away in the army it was hard for them to find time to do romantic couply things like this, but when they did, they always made sure to make the most of it and Beca seemed to be going all out on this particular night.

As the song came to an end, it was followed up by Adele's version of Make You Feel My Love. This was it, Beca's moment. She had never been so sure and so scared at the same time before but this was one leap of faith she was ready to take.

Beca locked eyes with Chloe, taking a moment to take in how breathtaking she looked, making the redhead blush under her gaze. Unwrapping her arm from around her girlfriend, she instead linked their hands and Chloe stood their for a moment taking note of how intensely Beca was studying her.

"You're so beautiful," Beca whispered, reaching up to tuck one of Chloe's stray loose waves behind her ear. Chloe couldn't help but melt at how thoughtful her girlfriend was being, Adele's voice echoing the beautiful lyrics of one her favourite songs around them.

Then, before she could take a moment to register what was going on, Beca was leaning in closer, cupping her face in the palm of her hands.

"You know, it was on this very day a couple of years ago, that I asked you to be my girlfriend," she said and Chloe was suddenly struck dumb when she realised Beca was right and the brunette continued.

"It was the best decision I ever made. Chloe you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. You're the love of my life and the fact that you, the most beautiful, thoughtful woman I have ever known could love me back, that makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world."

At Beca's words Chloe was welling up, she had not been expecting this but hearing Beca's words, seeing the emotion in her eyes, it made her fall deeper in love with soldier and it made her wonder how she had ever existed in a world without her before. Beca gently caressed Chloe's cheek with her thumb as she continued with her speech.

"You're the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I dream about every night. When I'm overseas, the one thing that gets me through, the thing that keeps me moving forward, is you. Coming home to you and sharing a life with you. You're my lifeline, you make my life better, you make me better."

Beca's voice began to waver as the emotion of the moment took over her. She wasn't the most expressive when it came to her feelings, but with Chloe she always felt comfortable in doing just that and in this moment, she knew now more than ever, she needed to lay it all out on the table.

"You are my best friend, my soulmate, the love of my life. I truly believe that and I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life loving you the way you deserve to be loved."

At this point tears were streaming down Chloe's face, the setting sun casting a peaceful glow over the moment and then, Beca dropped to one knee, gripping Chloe's hands in her own.

"I wanted to do this with the setting sun in the background because I wanted it to be a metaphor. It's setting on today but it will rise tomorrow to signify a new day, a new chapter, and I want to start our next chapter with the promise of forever."

Pulling the ring from her pocket, Beca held it up for Chloe to see. It was beautiful, one diamond set into a white gold band with smaller diamonds either side. It wasn't the an overtly flashy ring, Chloe wasn't into that kind of thing, but it was by no means on the small side. It was just the perfect size, something she knew Chloe would love and that would make other people take notice.

Chloe choked back a sob, her hand coming to rest over her mouth, now full on crying as she gazed down at the woman she loved on one knee, holding up the most beautiful ring and her brain was in over drive. Beca gently took hold of Chloe's left hand, and gazed up at her girlfriend with the most hopeful look.

"Chloe Beale, would you do me the honour and privilege, of becoming my wife?"

At this point Chloe couldn't stop the tears and she removed her hand from in front of her mouth to utter the one word Beca had been waiting and hoping to hear.

"Yes," Chloe finally replied her voice shaking with the force of her tears that were now just free flowing.

Beca couldn't stop the smile that took hold as she slipped the ring onto her now fiancées finger and then stood up, wrapping her arms around Chloe and pulling her into a deep passionate kiss. Chloe wrapped her arms around Beca's neck and hugged her tight, burying her face in the crook of the soldiers neck, glancing at the ring on her finger over Beca's shoulder.

"I love you you so much," Chloe whispered, kissing the side of Beca's neck as she held her tight. Beca softly chuckled at that, thinking about how much she loved the redhead before replying.

"You have no idea Beale."


	8. Physical Therapy

It shouldn't be this hard, her gun shot wounds hadn't damaged any of her bones, yet her muscles in her arm and thigh felt like they had been dormant for years.

She couldn't play with Riley in the yard, couldn't pick up Charlie when she stretched up her arms to be held, couldn't make love to her wife like she had been longing to do for months.

Between the physical limitations to her body and the constant nightmares that disrupted her ability to sleep she was exhausted.

Coming home should've been this amazing thing, she was with her family again, she was reunited with her friends, but the reality of leaving war behind and acclimating to regular, free flowing, every day life had been hard.

She was used to the routine of being in the army and the duties that entailed. She was used to the restrictive feeling of knowing that she had someone to answer to at all times. In a way, she was used to being controlled.

But now she was in a world where she had the freedom to make choices without the weight of it holding life or death consequences. If she wanted to go for a walk in the park she could go for a walk in the park. If she wanted to watch a movie she could watch a movie. If she wanted to call someone she could do so whenever she wanted without the limitations of having to wait weeks or even months at a time.

As much as she wanted to believe war and her time in the military hadn't changed her, it had and she was struggling to wrap her mind around that. Chloe had been her saving grace.

She was patient, understanding, never pushing her or losing her temper when Beca was being particularly stubborn or closed off. She was just Chloe, supportive and loving to the very end, because she knew, she knew that her wife wasn't trying to be difficult, she was just struggling to fit back in to the world she left behind to serve overseas.

Beca knew she had things to work out and deal with, and she would, eventually. She just needed to mend herself physically because she knew if she did that, and was able to take back some control and independence, then some of the weight of her struggles would be lifted.

So she went to physical therapy three times a week and she worked hard to get back to tip top shape, but that didn't mean the slow process wasn't wearing on her patience.

Beca sat in the leg press machine, sweat dripping from every pore, her gym clothes soaked as she breathed through the pain. Her muscles were aching, her mind screaming at her to push harder.

Leg presses has always been easy for her but sitting in that machine, she never felt so weak. She was physically shaking with the exertion of trying to push against the weight. She had only managed five reps before she began to lose the power in her leg to keep going.

As the muscle began to give out, Beca allowed her legs be pushed back as the weight dropped down and the frustration got the better of her.

"DAMMIT!" She yelled out into the empty space, leaning her head back and shutting her eyes, breathing deeply as she willed back the tears.

Chloe, who had been watching through the glass doors, pulled on the handle and stepped inside, her wife having been oblivious to her presence. Passing by the towel rack, she picked up a clean towel and made her way over to her injured soldier.

Crouching down she unfolded the towel and began to wipe the sweat from her wife's arms, chest and neck. The sudden presence made Beca's eyes jolt open and look to the side to see her wife's concerned face staring back at her.

"You're pushing yourself too hard," Chloe said, placing her knees on the ground and leaning back on her heels, folding the towel in her hands. Beca swallowed thickly and gazed up at the ceiling.

"Clearly I'm not pushing myself enough," she responded, her tone sounding bitter. Chloe frowned at that her voice taking on that of a disgruntled teacher chastising her class.

"Yeah because clearly pushing yourself to the point of physical pain isn't pushing yourself enough," Chloe barked back. Beca looked at her and shook her head turning back to face up to the ceiling.

"You don't get it," she sighed and that just further fuelled the annoyance in her wife.

"Oh I get it Beca, I get it completely. You think I don't notice the look of disappointment when you can't pick Charlie up? Or how much it pains you to tell Riley you can't mess around on the jungle gym with her? I see it Beca, I see it every single day."

Beca had the decency to look ashamed at that. It's not that she meant to belittle Chloe's understanding, she was just so, mad. She fought for her country, put her body and life on the line and all she got in return were scars and injuries that would probably never fade completely. Memories and nightmares she couldn't run away from and it was infuriating.

She would never regret choosing to protect her country, her family, but at times she did wonder if it was worth it when she realised the efforts of those serving was so easily forgotten. That nobody seemed to care enough to check in and see how they were coping.

The heroes welcome at the airport a long forgotten memory. Almost as if people felt like they had repaid their civic duty and now it was just business as usual and for them it was. For the soldiers themselves, coming home was just the beginning of their journey, and that's what people failed to understand.

So it was left to people like Chloe to help put soldiers like Beca back together. To mend the wounds they carried and ease the pain they suffered. And Beca was grateful, so grateful for what her wife had done and continued to do. But she shouldn't have to do it alone. Her or any other person helping to heal a soldier.

Supporting the troops was more than just waving a flag and standing for the national anthem. It was more than just sending them off and welcoming them home. It was more than just saying thank you. It was about being there when it mattered most.

But she knew in her heart, that if it wasn't for Chloe and their daughters, Beca probably wouldn't have made it this far. They were her lifeline and they didn't deserve this broken version of her.

"I'm sorry, I just, you and the girls deserve better than this," she said, her voice cracking at the end, betraying her as she tried to fight back the tears. Chloe's frown softened to one of curiosity and and she leaned forward again, rubbing her wife's shoulder.

"Better than what?" She asked, watching as all of Beca's jumbled thoughts seemed to flash before her eyes and Chloe waited for her to find the right words.

"Better than what I've become. I need to be strong for you and the girls and I can't be and it's so, so fucking frustrating," Beca said, wiping away a tear that slid down her cheek. Chloe shook her head and sat up, placing her hand on the side of her wife's face and turning it to face her.

"No, Bec's we don't need you to be strong. We need you to be happy and healthy and if you keep pushing yourself like this you're just gonna prolong your recovery," Chloe explained, stroking the side of her wife's face.

"Strength isn't about how much you can lift or how fast you can run, it's about being strong mentally because that's where it counts. All we have ever needed from you is your love and you give us that more than anyone ever could."

Beca grabbed a hold of Chloe's hand, bringing it to her lips and pressing a kiss to it, slowly feeling the weight of her thoughts lifting at her wife's words.

"I just feel like I have so much lost time to make up for," Beca replied in a whisper and Chloe gave her a gentle smile as she wiped away the last of her wife's tears.

"And you will. We have all the time in the world, but you need to take care of yourself first. Trust me our girls will be willing and waiting for their Mama to play and do all that fun stuff when she's ready," Chloe reassured. Beca smiled at that before gazing into her wife's eyes.

"And what about Mommy, will she be willing and waiting too?" Beca asked, half joking, half serious. Chloe leaned down and kissed her wife and then pulled back, staring deep into those dark blue eyes she loved so much.

"Always."


	9. A Soldiers Cry For Help

Therapy was a strange experience for Beca. It taught her a lot about coping mechanisms and what to do when she felt a panic attack coming on. But there was also the flip side of therapy.

The drumming up of uncomfortable and painful memories and talking through her nightmares. Beca had thought that they would ease up, but it seemed that to get to the light at the end of the tunnel, she first had to make her way through the darkness that consumed her path.

Her therapist had made it clear from the very beginning that to overcome the obstacles currently weighing her down, she first had to face them head on. Easier said than done, but Beca understood the sentiment.

You could try to outrun the darkness of your past but until you shine a light on it, it would always be that black cloud following you around. Beca's military service may have helped many people, but it had caused her pain that she knew would never completely go away.

But that wasn't the point of therapy. It wasn't to make the bad memories and nightmares go away, it was about learning to face it and embrace it and deal with it in a more effective and positive way. About being able to think about it in a way that she could harness that bad energy and redirect it.

To be able to look upon her pain as a symbol of her sacrifice and bravery. To be able to look at all the loss she had suffered and be able to weigh that up against all that she had gained.

Yes Beca had lost fellow soldiers, but she had also gained a second family. Yes she had left behind a home over seas, but she had returned to a wife and two daughters who loved her dearly.

Yes people had used her service as a means to try and prop up Trump's propaganda, but others had used it as a beacon of light, a signal that there were people out there prepared to take the greatest risk, so that they had the freedom to live their life without restriction or condemnation.

There were days when it was easier to turn the negative into a positive, but it was a journey, a long one. There would always be days when sometimes the darkness just didn't want to let go, the problem was when the darkness took hold, it could be hard to find release.

Tossing and turning, she found herself being pulled deeper and deeper into her dream, except it wasn't a dream, they were memories. Memories that haunted her and messed with her mind.

Her hands gripped at the bedsheet with a vice like grip, her body fidgeting as her restless conscious navigated the mind-field that was taking her down a dark path. She physically jerked when the sound of a gunshot rang out and her body literally curled up when an explosion sounded out.

Chloe's eyes fluttered open, her sleep having been disturbed by the restless movements of her wife next to her. She slowly turned over and gazed down at the brunette whose facial expression seemed to suggest that she was having an internal war within herself.

Sitting up and flicking on the bedside lamp, Chloe turned back around to her wife and gently began to shake her shoulder to rouse her from her nightmare. When the motion didn't seem to be working, she glanced down and noticed how tightly Beca was gripping the sheet.

Reaching down her hands she carefully placed them around her wife's wrists and began rubbing soothing circles on the inside of them trying to coax her hands to relax. But the method didn't seem to work, in fact it had the opposite effect.

Before she could register what was happening, Beca had yanked her hands free and latched them around her wife's wrists, gripping them so tightly they caused Chloe to yelp in pain. The redhead fought against the soldiers hold on her but this only further encouraged Beca's aggressive grip.

"Beca, Beca, wake up! Bec's you're hurting me!" She shouted and within a split second, navy blue eyes shot open and caught sight of the slender wrists trapped between her own two hands.

Beca reacted to the situation like she had been burned, instantly releasing Chloe from her grasp and shooting back into an upright position against the headboard, her eyes wet with tears and her heart hammering against her chest.

She looked down, and all she could see were the angry red hand marks on her wife's wrists and it broke something in her. Gazing back up she looked into cerulean blue eyes and she could see the pain and concern staring back at her and she couldn't take it. She didn't deserve it.

"I'm sor- I'm sorry," she stammered as she dashed out of the bed and ran out of the room. Chloe sat there dazed. She didn't know what to do. One minute Beca was holding her captive like she was the enemy, the next she was looking at her with the most broken expression she had ever seen.

She looked down at her wrists and could see the imprint of her wife's hands. The marks would leave a bruise but the emotional impact of it hurt more. Because even though it was her wife's hands that had inflicted the injury, it wasn't her wife's mind, heart or soul that had caused it.

These were the actions of someone who was hurting, who was desperate, who's mind had been so confused by fantasy and reality they had mistaken comfort for entrapment. Chloe had been hurt by Beca's actions, but in that split second, when her wife had looked at her before dashing out of the room, she had seen the devastation the situation had caused.

Even though Beca hasn't meant to do it, even though her actions had not been intentional, in the soldiers mind they might as well have been because she had caused her wife pain, and in Beca's eyes, that was unforgivable.

Climbing out of the bed, Chloe sprinted into the bathroom and pulled out the first aid kit, grabbing some ointment from the box and rubbing it over her wrists to sooth the ache and help speed up recovery before tidying the box away. She would've run straight after her wife but she knew Beca would need a moment to be away from her, to step away from the triggering effect of the last few moments. After another brief pause she left the room in search of her wife.

Beca dashed down the stairs and made her way into the kitchen, unlocking the back door and running out into the garden, not stopping until she was at the very bottom, putting distance between herself and the house. When she came to a stop she doubled over, hands on her knees as she struggled to breathe.

Her tears stained her cheeks, teardrops dropping from her chin to the ground beneath her. The lack of oxygen was making her dizzy and she dropped to her knees, her hands resting on the ground as she fought against the feeling of suffocation.

She had hurt Chloe, her wife, the person she was supposed to love and protect and it killed her. This was not who she was, this isn't what she wanted to become. She had fought so hard to prevent what had happened overseas from changing her into a monster but she felt like she was fighting a losing battle.

Her mind kept replaying that moment, the moment she woke up with Chloe's hands trapped within her grip and all she could think about was, what could've happened? How much worse could it have gotten, how much worse could it get?

And then she thought about her daughters, God, if she had laid a finger on either of them she never would've been able to forgive herself. She could barely stomach who she was right now. She was hurting the people who meant the most to her and it was slowly killing her inside.

She leaned her head down and pressed it against the palm of her hands and weeped. Weeped for the person she used to be and the monster she feared she was becoming. Weeped for her wife and daughters for not being good enough.

Just as she was losing herself down the dark alleys of her mind, she felt a pair of lips press against her shoulder, a comforting arm wrap itself around her back, as the other slid over her shoulder, a hand resting against her chest and pulling her up into a loving embrace.

Once she was in an upright position, she fell back into Chloe's embrace and gripped the hands that were holding her, her tears turning into gut wrenching sobs at the compassion she was being shown, a compassion she didn't feel she deserved.

"I'm so sorry Chlo, I'm so sorry," she wailed and she felt those arms around her grip her tighter as if they feared that if they let go, Beca would disappear, something Chloe had been becoming more and more fearful of the more she noticed her wife retreating inside herself.

Chloe let her own tears fall as she pressed her lips to the side of Beca's face, resting her head on the brunettes shoulder. It was killing her to see her wife in this state, knowing that she couldn't fix it. She had tried, so hard, but she wasn't equipped to deal with this, they needed a professional.

"Listen to me, what happened, was an accident okay," she said, speaking directly into her wife's ear, "you did not mean to hurt me," Chloe soothed, speaking only the truth.

"Tomorrow morning, we're going to go down to Dr. Reid's office and we're going to talk about what happened, you and me okay," she said and Beca managed to nod in between sobs.

"We're going to fix you Bec's, but it's going to take time. But no matter how long it takes I'm with you in this," Chloe stated, her tone resolute.

"I love you," Chloe whispered, pressing her face into Beca's neck and holding her tight. Beca leaned her head to the side so that it was resting against Chloe's, her tears slowly beginning to ease.

They stayed like that until Beca found the strength to stand and went back inside the house. That night, the soldier slept in the spare room, too scared to go to sleep with her wife next to her for fear of repeating the same mistake. Chloe had been devastated but she didn't let it show. She understood Beca's reasons and after the emotionally draining time they had spent together, she simply watched as Beca stumbled into the guest room, closing the door as if she were some wild animal that needed to be caged.

The next day they had made an emergency appointment with Dr. Reid and after much discussion, and the heartbreaking confession from Beca that there were times that she felt so lost and undeserving of her families love that she contemplated taking her own life, she had been prescribed an antidepressant.

The confession had shattered Chloe, making her feel like she hadn't been doing enough, that she hadn't been observant enough. But Beca had assured her that Chloe had done more than an enough, in fact she had gone above and beyond. However Beca's mind was broken and the only person who could heal that was Beca herself.

While Beca's confession had been shocking to say the least, she was quick to turn to Chloe and admit that what kept her from carrying out the action, was the love she had for her and their daughters. She could never do that to them, she could never leave them behind.

But feeling what she had been feeling, fighting that darkness that clouded her mind, she understood how someone could feel so hopeless, so helpless, that they could turn to suicide as a way out.

Once they returned home, with Beca's new prescription in hand, they sat in the living room together just soaking in one another's presence. Chloe had been extra clingy and Beca understood why, but she was determined to defeat this monster that followed her around. She was determined not to become another statistic.

"I'm gonna do better Chlo, I promise," she said as she gripped Chloe's hand and toyed with the wedding and engagement rings that rested there, a reminder of the promises she had made when they became engaged and on their wedding day. Chloe simply looked up at her and pressed a kiss to her lips, lingering there for a long moment.

"Just promise me that if you ever feel like that, if you ever feel like doing… that, you'll come to me and you'll talk to me. I don't care how much it hurts, I don't ever wanna lose you. Promise me," Chloe pleaded as she looked Beca straight in the eye, her own wet from the tears she had shed. Beca simply nodded her head, before bringing Chloe's left hand up to her lips and placing a kiss in the two rings they housed, reiterating her promise of forever.

"I promise," she whispered as she kissed Chloe on the lips. The redhead deepened it before wrapping her arms tight around her wife, silently praying that this had been their rock bottom, and that everything from here on out would only go up.


	10. Beca & Chloe's First Encounter

Chloe was late, like super late, which was unusual because punctuality was one of her strong points. But that stupid senior party the previous night in her dorm had called for some poor life decisions to be made, the usual college kind, hence the redhead waking up incredibly late and hungover.

It was her last year at Barden before she went out into the world to commit to her teacher training. They were exciting times, but also somewhat nerve wracking. Ever since she was a kid she always wanted to be a teacher.

She loved to read and learn and fell in love with English and literature at a young age. Her bedroom back home was basically a walk in library and her dorm room walls were covered in books. She loved nothing more than getting lost between the pages of a good story. From the contemporary to the classics.

It often surprised people that bubbly Chloe Beale, the girl who never missed a social event and was probably one of the most popular girls on campus, was also what some would call a nerd. Depending on the day you could either find her helping to organise some sort of college fun for her peers, or, sitting under a tree reading anything from Jane Austen to Harry Potter.

Brains and beauty, that was Chloe Beale, but what really made her popular, was her openness towards others. Chloe didn't care much for labels or social hierarchy's, she just loved getting to know someone and making new friends. Her friend groups were made up of a variety of diverse people from all walks of life and that's exactly how she liked it.

So she excelled in the world of university, being able to learn and meet people with different interests and backgrounds, it was perfect for her. It helped shape her future goals of becoming a teacher. Or at least they would if she got to her class on time.

Dashing through the quad, she manoeuvred around the throngs of people as she tried to navigate her way to the building she needed to be in. It was Freshmen orientation week, or as all other years called it, the week from hell. Parents dropping off their kids, newbies trying desperately to fit in and make a good impression.

Normally Chloe would be helping out at one of the stands for one of the many clubs she was in, she kind of wished she was able to participate, but as she looked at her watch she remembered she had more important things to be catching up on.

Shooting down the path and around the corner, she collided with another body and fell into the strangers arms as her bag and latest reading material fell to the ground. The arms currently wrapped around her gripped her tighter and helped pull her into a standing position as Chloe sprouted off a string of apologies.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," she said before finally glancing up into navy blue eyes and seeing the person she had run into for the first time. She was beautiful, slightly smaller than Chloe with pale perfect skin, raven locks braided either side and just the right amount of eyeliner to make her eyes pop.

"It's okay," the other woman replied, pulling the strap of her guitar case up higher onto her shoulder before reaching down and picking up Chloe's belongings, handing them over to her. The redhead took them into hand and thanked her.

"I'm Chloe," she said as she stuck her hand out for the other woman to shake, "I don't think I've seen you around before." The other woman grasped her hand and shook it gently before retracting it and looping her thumb under the strap of her guitar case.

"Beca, I actually just started today," came the response and Chloe nodded her head in understanding. That would explain a lot, there was no way a girl this gorgeous would've gone undetected for this long.

"Ah so you're a Fresher," Chloe winked with a cheeky grin on her face and Beca snorted out a laugh before nodding her head to confirm the redheads suspicions.

"Yep that I am, and I take it by the Pace Academy graduating class of 2009 badge pinned to your bag, you're either a Senior or a professor who has aged incredibly well," Beca joked. Chloe giggled, she liked this girl, a lot, she had a great sense of humour.

"Well I mean I keep up a strict moisturising regime, it takes a lot to look this good at my age," she replied, making Beca grin as she held up her hand and gestured towards Chloe's face.

"Clearly it's working cause all of this is incredible," Beca responded, her tone clearly displaying the playful banter she had found herself engaged in. Chloe blushed at that and bit her lower lip to stop the smile that was breaking out from splitting her face. Glancing down at her watch she realised she was never going to make it to her class now anyways so she decided to take a chance on in a different idea.

"Do you maybe wanna go grab a coffee? She asked, pulling at the strap of her bag out of nervousness as she regarded the woman before her. "I know this awesome little place nearby that does the best coffee and its right by campus, you'll love it," she finished.

Beca thought about it for a minute, clearly she had been intending on going somewhere else and was weighing up her options. Then, as if clarity had just snapped its fingers in her face, she was shrugging her shoulders and nodding at the ginger.

"Sure why not, I couldn't possibly upset the social hierarchy by refusing to bend to the will of a Barden Senior," Beca said, that playful tone creeping in again. Chloe chuckled and then turned her body slightly waiting for Beca to fall into step beside.

It was during this meeting that they learned so much about one another. That Chloe's parents had married young and that her dad came from a wealthy business family but had established his own independent Beale branch and made his own wealth over the years. That she had three overprotective brothers that she loved and had a super tight relationship with and that she loved to read, write and sing.

Beca for her part had talked about growing up a "military brat". Her parents had met while serving and this lead to a lot of moving around and unsettlement for Beca. They had planned on having other kids, but with both of them serving it made it difficult, even after Beca's mother had fulfilled her service and left.

So she grew up an only child. Living a nomadic life had made it difficult for her to sustain long friendships, however she had met her best friend Jesse a couple of years ago and they had remained tight. He was even attending Barden. He too came from a military background and it had bonded them when they met.

Ever since she was a kid she loved music and to keep some consistency in her life, had taken to learning piano and guitar so that something could always follow her no matter where she went. She loved it, but wasn't sure what it was she wanted to do with her life, she was still figuring herself out.

Chloe had been a little saddened by the idea that Beca had moved around so much. She could only imagine the loneliness of knowing that at any moment you could be uprooted again. It made her more determined to befriend this woman who had crashed into her life, and after listening to Beca talk and getting to know more of that sense of humour, she could safely say she was very interested in making sure she stuck around.

If only they knew the life this happy little accident would hold in store for them….


	11. Once A Soldier, Always A Soldier

The lake house, their little piece of heaven on Earth. With summer vacation having officially begun, Chloe was a free woman with several weeks of down time to spare. In her eyes, it was the perfect opportunity to take a family trip to what was essentially their second home.

They needed it, but more importantly Beca needed it. The opportunity to spend time in an environment that held nothing but happy memories a welcome distraction. With Beca having started her medications, her emotions were in a strange place and having family and friends constantly dropping in to check on them was beginning to wear her down.

She appreciated all the love and support but it was getting to a suffocating level and Beca needed a time out to find her feet again without feeling like her every move was being watched. Chloe had tried talking to everyone but it didn't seem to make much of a difference.

It wasn't that their family and friends were purposely ignoring their requests to ease up, they just didn't know the proper procedures to follow, so they had been overcompensating. It had taken the couple telling them all they were taking a holiday for some quiet family time with the girls for everyone to realise their actions had been a little too full on and they needed to pull back, just a little. Just enough that they were present without being overbearing.

So the two women packed up the SUV, loaded the girls into the car and took off, Beca heaving out a relieved sigh when she saw the reflection of their street beginning to fade with distance in the rear view mirror.

The trip would be Charlie's first time experiencing the Beale lake house, something Chloe had purposely held out on until Beca was home. It was a family moment she wanted to have with her wife as a family unit and to finally have the opportunity to share it with Beca and their daughters sent a burst of warmth through her chest.

Chloe loved nothing more than waking up in her old room, stepping out onto her balcony that overlooked the lake and seeing the very spot where Beca Mitchell asked her to be hers forever. The place where their family had begun. To Chloe the Beale lake house was pure joy, and she wanted that feeling of happiness to surround her wife as a reminder of everything good they shared.

Yes it was a family holiday, but Chloe also hoped it would be a time of healing. Where her wife could spend time nursing old scars that seemed to have reopened. Where they could reconnect as a couple and where Beca could finally feel like she was catching up on the time she felt she had missed with her daughters without all of the struggle that had plagued her since returning home.

It was hard being in their hometown for the simple reason that they were surrounded by military families, past and present. Everywhere they went people wanted to engage them about Beca's time overseas or to thank her for her service. Some, without thinking, would question whether or not she would be forced back into re-enlisting with the way things were going with the war.

It was like no matter how hard she tried to get away from it, the military followed her. Chloe had questioned whether or not they should move, maybe somewhere more urban and free flowing like Atlanta, but Beca reasoned that it would be too costly to just pack up and move. The patriotic pandering would wane eventually, they just had to wait it out.

Until then they had the Beale lake house to escape to. The one place they could go and not be bothered, and they had plenty of time to relax and make new memories. This was the one place where nothing was tainted for them, and that's how it would stay.

Standing in the kitchen checking the food she had prepared for dinner, Chloe spotted her wife sitting on the steps of the back deck looking out over the lake. The sun was beginning to set casting an orange glow over the soldier. Even though Chloe couldn't see her face, she could tell by her wife's demeanour that she was semi relaxed, something the redhead was grateful for.

Turning down the stove so that the food was left to lightly simmer without burning, Chloe checked over her shoulder and noticed that Riley was preoccupied colouring on the floor while Charlie was fast asleep in her travel crib. Picking up the baby monitor off the counter, Chloe threw on a zip up hoody and stepped outside.

Beca could feel Chloe's presence before her wife had even made it across the decking something she had become attuned to over the years. For some reason, and she wasn't sure why, she could always feel when her wife was nearby, like a sixth sense, one she never wanted to lose.

Her eyes never left the rippling water of the lake as an arm wrapped itself around her stomach and a body pressed into her side, a head coming to rest on her shoulder. Without saying a word, she reached down her hand and began to stroke the one draped across her midsection, turning her head so she could press her lips to her wife's forehead.

"I can still see it you know, you and me, dancing on the dock, calling you fiancée for the first time," Beca said with a wistful smile. Chloe leaned up and pressed a kiss to her wife's pulse point, before turning her head towards the lake, that very dock coming into view and she smiled.

Because she could see it too, like an old film reel playing out right in front of her eyes. That moment had been perfect, it had set them on the path to creating the perfect family they had now. It was strange, even though it was years ago, Chloe could still remember it as clear as day, like it had just happened right in the moment they were in.

That's what she loved about being with Beca. Nothing ever felt like a lifetime ago, it always felt close, like it had just happened. She never felt nostalgic for a time gone by because every day with her wife made her grateful for the time they had now. Whether it was five minutes ago or ten years ago, Chloe felt like if she reached out she could touch any memory from any time and be teleported right back there in her minds eye. Her attention was turned towards her wife when Beca heaved out a heavy sigh.

"I just wanna get back to that you know?" Beca said, surveying the picturesque lake view before her, "I wanna get back to when things were easier, when I didn't feel so, so useless," she growled out causing Chloe to frown in exasperation because she couldn't fathom how Beca could ever consider herself to be useless. The brunette turned and looked at her wife with a look of sheer frustration.

"There was a time when you would look at me like a superhero and it made me feel like I could do anything, like I was making a difference. But now, I don't know who I am or what my purpose is. It's like I spent all that time fighting a war just go lose myself and for what? So Riley and Charlie could have a sucky Mom?So you could have a wife that's beat up and broken?".

Chloe could see how much it was hurting Beca, not knowing what her place was now that she was discharged from the army. It was like she was trying to figure herself out all over again only now she had a family to support and Chloe could see that Beca's pride was tearing her apart. She wanted to be someone her kids could be proud of for who she is, not what she was. She wanted to feel like Chloe had an equal, not someone who needed to be taken care of.

All of these uncertainties plagued Beca's mind Chloe believed it was one of things that was holding her wife back from making real progress. Yes, Beca hated what war had done to her, but being a part of the military, standing side by side with her fellow men and women, serving something and someone greater than herself, that had given Beca a sense of fulfilment that no other regular job ever could.

It was the curse of being a soldier. Fighting to come home when away at war but feeling lost and isolated when away from the army. It was almost like even though Beca wanted to let go for the sake of her family, deep down she wasn't meant to. This was something that terrified Chloe.

The realisation that her wife had found her place, her calling in life, in the very thing that Chloe feared most. Yes she was immensely proud of Beca and everything she had done and yes, she was incredibly proud to be able to say that Captain Beca Mitchell was her wife.

But she hated what came with that title. The deployments to intense war torn countries for months on end with limited contact. The nights spent alone hoping and praying that Beca wasn't among the soldiers claimed in the latest attack on the news reports on the tv.

And she was dealing with all this from the safety of her home in Georgia. She couldn't fathom what it was like for the soldiers on active duty. All Chloe could see was the pain and suffering it caused and that was why it was so difficult for her to reconcile with the idea that for some people, the military was life. Even through the horrors and the atrocities, for some people it was a calling more so than a duty.

Chloe was beginning to realise that maybe this was true of her wife. Maybe it wasn't a coincidence that all of this conflict began to stir up just as her wife was on the precipice of figuring out who she was. Maybe it was destiny.

Beca Mitchell had saved many lives during her military career, more than most people would ever know. She had stood on the frontline and fought even when naysayers back home ridiculed her for being both gay and a woman. She had given hope to the hopeless in a time when standing out and being what was considered "different" or against the norm was being challenged by those who were supposed to serve everyone.

Maybe Chloe had to accept the fact that at some point, the military may just pull Beca back in, whether she liked it or not. She would always stand by and support her wife, love her unconditionally, but she wasn't afraid to admit that if the day ever came that Beca told her she wanted back in, she would smile at her wife, tell her how much she loved and supported her, even if it meant breaking her own heart and facing her own fears.

She knew Beca would never intentionally want to put Chloe through that, which was why she knew that Beca had been steering clear of all things military. Yes it had a lot to do with Beca needing time to heal and regroup, but it also had a lot to do with the fact that the only reason Beca felt lost, was because she was trying to find a purpose outside of the army for the sake of her family.

Beca wasn't lost, in fact she had realised her path in life a couple of months into her therapy. But the realisation had filled her with dread, because the last thing she ever wanted to do was put her family through that again. That's why she was so conflicted and lost, not because she didn't know what path to follow, but because the path she was destined to go down was one she wasn't sure she was prepared to risk again.

Beca Mitchell was a soldier, always was always would be, but in her heart she was a wife and mother first, and she was struggling to find a way to make those two things fit. She couldn't be away from Chloe and the girls again, she just couldn't do it. But there was a part of her that felt truly happy and fulfilled being a soldier and she wasn't sure she would ever find that again in any other job or career path.

Beca hated what war had done to her, the way it had brutalised her body and mind and the months of therapy, physical and mental, that was required to make things remotely fine again. The consequences of war would always be a high price to pay. But she was finally understanding what she had been told by veterans she had encountered over the years.

About the longing and the hunger to serve and protect even after all the fighting had worn then down. The longing to return and stand up against the enemy even when the broken pieces of their spirit told them to leave well alone. In a weird way, it was almost easier to cope with the concept and the horrors of war while in it than it was when coming out of it.

That was the thing that was so strange and something that couldn't be understood by the normal bystander. That was the reason why even after being blown half way to hell by bombs and missiles, for many soldiers, going back was something they would truly consider.

For Beca though, it wasn't necessarily about going back to war, it was about going back to the place where she felt she was doing something for the greater good. She remembered the reasons she chose to enlist in the first place, and while she had dealt with many struggles upon returning, she couldn't shake off that feeling that there was more to do. Especially in the political climate they were living in.

She felt like she could still be useful, that she could still help make a difference. Even though she didn't want to be away from Chloe and the girls, even though she wasn't sure she could face going back to the place that made her contemplate the value of her own life, she couldn't deny the fact that the bonds she had formed with her fellow soldiers still ran deep and she wasn't sure if she could simply live a life ignoring it.

Beca turned her head and looked at Chloe, and she could see it written all over her wife's face, Chloe knew of the internal struggle Beca was facing and the conflict within her mind. She didn't have to say anything, they both just knew and came to a silent understanding. At some point, the military may come knocking on Beca's door again, and neither of them would stand in the way of what was destined to be.

Wrapping her arms around Chloe, Beca pulled her into a side hug and held her tight, pressing her lips to the side of her head and lingering there for a moment. She wished more than anything that she could've found a path in life that wasn't so risky, and Chloe, she couldn't help but wonder how she had been blessed to have found a love so selfless and so unconditional.

As the sun creeped further down beyond the horizon, the sound of little footsteps resounded across the porch. Both women turned to see Riley walking towards them with her teddy bear under her arm and a piece of paper in her hand.

"Hey Bug," Beca said, her tone light and cheerful as she separated herself from her wife and pulled her daughter into her lap, perching her on one leg so that she was facing both her mothers. Chloe smiled at her daughter and flicked her eyes down to the picture in her hand.

"What's that sweetie?" She asked as Riley relinquished her hold on the drawing to Beca so both her mothers could get a better look, the little girl hugging her teddy closer to her chest.

"It's a picture of me, you, Mama and Charlie," she said, pointing to each stick figure in the drawing. Sure enough there were four stick figures of various sizes all stood in a line next to what was supposed to be a monster. Beca pointed to herself.

"Why am I wearing a cape?" She asked and Chloe leaned in closer to get a better look and noticed that in the picture, her wife was in fact wearing a purple cape, purple being her wife's favourite colour. Riley glances up at her Mama.

"Uncle Jesse said superheroes fight the monsters and the bad men and they wear capes, and Mommy said you fight bad men to keep me Mommy and Charlie safe so that means you're a superhero too," Riley reasoned as if it was the most logical thing in the world.

Chloe's eyes welled up at the explanation and Beca was left speechless. Even though Riley wasn't old enough to fully understand or comprehend what a soldier was, she had a grasp on the difference between good and bad and superheroes and monsters so in her little mind, this was exactly what it meant.

Beca didn't want to cry in front of her daughter because she didn't want her to realise the gravity of just how much those words meant to her and how much of an impact they had considering the hell she'd been living the last couple of months.

Instead she gave her daughter a loving kiss on her rosey cheek and hugged her tight, the little girl letting go of her teddy so she could wrap her arms around her Mama's neck.

"I will always keep you, Mommy and Charlie safe. I promise," Beca said as she pressed a kiss to the side of her daughters head. Chloe picked up the picture and smiled at her wife.

"See, you do have a purpose. The most important one of all," Chloe said quietly, and Beca simply gave her a soft smile in return.

A week later, Beca received a phone call from her former commanding officer with an offer that would seal her fate. Re-enlist in the army and work as a trainer in tactical combat for new recruits. It was the ideal job, but it didn't come without some element of risk.

Re-enlisting meant there was a chance Beca could be called back into active duty though she would be further down the list as a trainer rather than as an active solider. The job would be based in her old Army Base so there was no need to relocate. But it was something she really had to think about.

The night she received the phone call she stayed up for hours talking to Chloe, the redhead listening intently and offering her two cents where she felt it necessary.

"As weird as it is, even when you told me you had been discharged, a small part of me always knew this could happen, but I didn't wanna think about it," Chloe sighed as she sat with her forehead pressed against her wife's, the both of them sitting wrapped up in one another's arms on the living room couch.

"If this is something you feel you need to do, I won't stop you. As much as I want to I won't. But if you do, and by some chance you get hauled back into active duty I need you to promise me something," Chloe stated, gazing deep into her wife's eyes.

"Anything," Beca replied and Chloe gripped her wife's hand tight and held it to her chest.

"Come home to us," she whispered, and Beca leaned in and pressed a passionate kiss to her wife's lips.

"I promise."


	12. Surprise Soldier!

Celebrating her birthday out at the lake house used to be the perfect way to celebrate in Chloe's mind. Spending time with her parents, her brothers and their wives and significant others was always a good time, even more so when her nieces and nephews joined the merry mob.

And although she was happy to be celebrating with them all again, the event was far from perfect, because for Chloe, the most important part of her family wasn't there to celebrate her birthday with her, and that made her miss her wife even more.

Beca was somewhere in the middle of Afghanistan with a bullet proof vest strapped to her body and a rifle in her hands, desperately fighting to keep the promise she had made to Chloe to come home.

It made it all the more difficult for the redhead to even try and enjoy herself. How could she even think about having a good time when her wife was overseas in the middle of a war zone not knowing if tomorrow was even a possibility.

For Chloe, there was no greater present than being present, and not having her wife there just made everything else feel pointless and unimportant. Still, her family and friends insisted she celebrate, saying that it would be good for her to take her mind off the war for a couple of hours.

Beca herself had even remarked in their last phone call that it was unacceptable for Chloe not to show up. The soldier knew her wife was struggling with their separation, hell, all Beca ever thought about was Chloe, even when she was jumping over landmines and dodging bullets.

She knew how hard it was on Chloe having to live every day wondering if Beca had made it through or not, it was evident in the reluctant goodbyes and heartfelt I love you's when they ended their calls and FaceTime conversations. Only Chloe refused refused to use the word goodbye as it held too much potential heartache.

Instead she would utter a simple "I miss you, I love you," and that was it. No goodbye, no 'see you soon' because she didn't want to tempt fate, just those six words, because they spoke the truth.

Even though Beca was aware of all this, she was still insistent on her wife living every day to the full. She wanted their conversations to be of stories of things Chloe had been up to while she was away, wanted to hear a smile at the end of the phone rather than the sound of relief.

That was why she insisted that Chloe do fun things and encouraged their family and friends to ensure that the redhead didn't simply live a life of worry and stress. That was why during their last phone call Beca had made it clear that if Chloe didn't go to the lake house to celebrate her birthday, she would withhold the awesome sex they were bound to have when she eventually returned.

The comment had made Chloe smile and she eventually conceded after realising that she had been living a pretty boring routine life for the last serval months. She agreed to celebrate her birthday, but she made Beca promise that they would eventually get to celebrate together, just the two of them, and her wife agreed.

So, Chloe found herself standing on the porch, gazing out at the lake while her father barbecued, her brothers played tag football with the kids and her mother and in laws handled everything else. Aubrey and her husband had made the trip, along with Jesse and his fiancée Alex and her two other best friends Jessica and Ashley whom she had known almost as long as she had known Aubrey. Beca's parents had also showed up with two gifts, one from themselves and one, much smaller that was neatly wrapped with a bow, from Beca.

"Foods up," came the voice of Meredith Beale, as she passed by her daughter and headed for the outside dining table that had been set up. It didn't take long for everyone to gather round and take their seats, John Beale placing two large platters at either end of the table for everyone to pick from, while Chloe's sister in laws placed various bowls of salad, bread, chopped vegetables, corn, mashed potatoes, French fries and various beverages on the tables.

"Everything looks great, thanks guys," Chloe smiled as she helped herself to various items. Everyone wished her a happy birthday before tucking into their food and chowing down. It was delicious and conversation had been free flowing, everyone glad to see Chloe enjoying herself and having a good time. That was when Meredith decided it was the perfect time to bring out the cake.

"You didn't think you were getting away with making a birthday wish did you," Meredith said, a grin on her face as she set the cake down in front of her daughter. Chloe blushed and let out a nervous giggle, everyone sitting around watching as the candles were lit.

"Alright, make a wish sweetie," John Beale called out as he pointed his phone camera in her direction. Chloe sat there for a moment, and contemplated her wish, the one wish that she truly hoped would come true, that Beca was safe and that she would return home. After another brief moment had passed, she leaned in and blew out her candles with cheers from her well wishers.

"Thanks everyone," Chloe said, unconsciously twisting the rings on her wedding finger. In that moment she felt something, a sort of warm fluttering in her chest that she only ever felt when her wife was around, the one she would get whenever Beca would walked into a room.

Chloe frowned in confusion before something inside her told her to look up. Turning her head to the side she couldn't believe the sight before her very eyes. There, crossing the lawn, in her camouflage gear and a duffle bag hanging from her shoulder, was her wife.

But it couldn't be, Beca was supposed to be in Afghanistan. Everyone else seemed to have clued in to Chloe's shock and followed her line of sight, the whole place falling into surprised silence. Before anything could be said, Chloe bounded out of her seat and sprinted across the yard.

Before Beca had time to register what was happening she felt two arms wrap around her neck and two legs wrap around her waist. The soldier didn't have time to register any of her aches and pains, too consumed with having Chloe back in her arms. Instead she wrapped her arms tightly around her wife as the redhead sobbed against her shoulder.

"Happy Birthday Chlo," she whispered, pressing sweet kisses against her wife's exposed neck. She kept one arm wrapped around her wife's back to support her weight while the other reached up to stroke flowing locks of red hair. After another long moment had passed, Chloe lifted her head from where it had been resting and kissed Beca with everything she had.

She couldn't believe it, her wife, her WIFE had made it home from war on her birthday. After giving their family and friends enough of a viewing, Chloe unwrapped her legs from around Beca and placed her feet back on solid ground, her hands coming up to cup her wife's face in the palm of her hands.

"I can't believe you're here," she whispered, her voice still shaky from all the crying. Beca smiled at her and kissed her on the lips, her hands settling on her wife's waist.

"I got word that we would by flying home a couple of weeks back. I wanted to surprise you." Chloe stared lovingly at her wife, gazing over every feature of the face she missed so much and dreamed of every night.

She could still see the faint markings of old wounds and the new ones that had joined them, only noticeable to anyone close enough to see. Her hands came to rest on the back of a pale slender neck and she massaged the muscles there that were more than likely jet lagged.

"I love you so much, this is the best present ever," Chloe beamed and Beca frowned before gesturing over her shoulder to her father who came walking over with Beca's gift.

"No babe, this is your gift, I'm just the consolation prize," Beca joked as she handed the small box to Chloe and told her to unwrap it. The redhead untied the bow and removed the paper to reveal what looked like a ring box. When she popped it open she found a key and she looked at her wife with a confused expression. Beca grinned.

"I figured if we're going to be making a start on that family of ours we're gonna need a bigger place. I mean I love our apartment, but a house with a yard seems more kid friendly."

Chloe stood their speechless. Her wife bought a house, they owned a house. They were talking about kids. It was all too much, Chloe's brain began to short circuit out of sheer happiness and she threw herself at Beca again.

"I love you so much, I'm so glad I married you," she replied, her voice again thick with tears and Beca giggled as she held her close.

"I'm glad, cause I'm pretty sure it's too late to get a refund on the wedding." Chloe lightly smacked Beca on the arm, but then leaped back in for another passionate kiss.

After the two women had finished, Chloe released Beca, although briefly, so that her parents, their friends and everyone else could have their turn welcoming her home. John grabbed Beca's duffel and brought it inside, placing it in Chloe's room while Beca's mother Alison, and Meredith Beale, piled food on a plate for her, their motherly instincts taking over.

Beca sat eating and chatting with everyone while Chloe, she simply looped her arm though Beca's and caressed her wife's arm lovingly, just happy to have her home. Later that night, having enjoyed the last of her birthday celebrations, Chloe and Beca retreated upstairs, the soldier exhausted from the long flight and the late night.

Chloe made her way into the ensuite and set about filling the bath tub with warm water and some bubble bath muscle soak so that her wife could relax and chill out after the hours she had spent travelling. She could see it in Beca's face that she was drained but the soldier had refused to go to bed early and miss out on celebrating the redheads birthday.

It meant a lot to Chloe to have everyone with her to celebrate her birthday, but honestly, being alone with her wife, this was all she wanted. She loved her family and friends dearly, but when life consists of spending months and months away from you significant other, sometimes the idea of being selfish and hiding away just the two of them, was far more appealing.

Beca stood by the dresser and carefully removed items of clothing, every muscle tensing from the aches and pains that were more than a little tired and over used. She removed her camouflage shirt and placed it on the bed and then slowly grabbed the hem of her t-shirt and pulled it up over her head, little grunts of disapproval escaping her lips.

Once it was gone, she glanced down at the various cuts and bruises that littered her torso. Across her right side was a bandage covering some stitches, the same just above the waist of her pants and the back of her right shoulder. More scars to add to her growing collection.

Glancing up into the mirror, she saw Chloe standing in the doorway of the ensuite looking at her through teary eyes. Beca instantly turned around and gave her a soft smile gesturing for her to come closer.

"Baby, I'm okay," Beca sighed, as Chloe came to a stop right in front of her, soft hands gently inspecting and caressing the injuries. Beca settled her hands on her wife's hips and pressed a soothing kiss to her lips.

"They're just some cuts they'll heal right up," she reasoned, trying to ease the worry that she could see in cerulean blue eyes. Chloe's gaze flickered up to her wife, her hands coming to rest on Beca's chest.

"What happened?" She asked and Beca heaved out a sigh. She hated the fact Chloe always needed to know the story behind every cut, every bruise, every stitch. She felt like it was unnecessary information to have because she knew the realities of war would just make Chloe worry more. But she also knew her wife wouldn't settle for being kept in the dark.

Beca hated talking about things like this, because for her, it was always a reminder of how close she came to being added to the growing list of soldiers who had served their last tour and she really didn't want Chloe thinking about that while she was away. But she could see the need to know and understand in her wife's eyes, so as always, she relented.

"We um, we took a misstep on route to our new base, one of the guys stepped on a landmine. He died instantly. Me and a couple of the others got hit with some stray shrapnel."

Chloe's eyes closed as she digested the news, swallowing around the lump in her throat. She wanted nothing more than to cry but she refused to. Beca was safe and she was home. A little banged up but at least she wasn't seriously injured, or worse, dead.

Sliding her hands from Beca's chest up behind her neck, she pulled her wife in close enough that their foreheads were touching. She needed a moment to feel grounded again, to feel her wife and know that she was okay.

Without saying a word she kissed Beca with everything she had, the kiss growing deeper and more longing as it went on, and then it stopped. Both women stood their panting for air as Chloe broke the silence.

"You finish getting undressed. I'm gonna grab some covering and some tape to cover your bandages and get a couple of fresh dressings. I'll be right back." With one more peck on the lips Chloe was out of the room and down the stairs.

Beca just watched her go, knowing Chloe needed a minute to clear her head. Instead she settled for removing her pants and grabbing the fresh towels off the bed, making her way into the ensuite and sitting on the edge of the bath.

Chloe rifled through the first aid kit and found the items she needed, laying them on the kitchen counter as she packed everything away. Beca's wounds weren't that serious, deep but superficial, but that wouldn't stop Chloe from nursing her back to health.

There were many times on Beca's last two tours when she had been injured or required medical attention and Chloe hadn't been able to be there for her, and it sucked, a lot. Now that the opportunity had presented itself, she was going to make damn well sure that her wife was 100% healed and taken care of.

Returning upstairs she crossed the room into the ensuite and placed the items in her hands onto the countertop next to the sink. She turned to her wife and leaned down, inspecting the bandages before standing back up with a frown.

"Maybe a bath isn't a good idea. I don't think you should be getting those stitches wet," Chloe said, her tone conveying her concern as her eyes glanced between the bath tub and her wife. Beca just shook her head and heaved out a deep sigh.

"Chlo, I really don't care. This bath looks too good and it's been too long since I've been able to bathe properly. Besides these are just cuts, they're not surgical wounds. I'll just be extra cautious the next couple of days. I'll be fine."

Chloe seemed reluctant but seeing the longing in her wife's face she couldn't deny her the simple luxury of a bath, so she gave in. Picking up the plastic coverings she made extra sure the tape was secure and then watched her wife get settled in the bath, a look of sheer relaxation crossing Beca's face. The soldier turned her head with a curious glint in her eye.

"You not joining me? I mean I flew all this way," Beca joked and Chloe just smiled, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her lips, her fingers combing through brown locks of hair.

"How about I join you for a shower tomorrow. Right now you finish up in here and join me in bed. You look exhausted you need the rest," Chloe replied her voice carrying nothing but care as she spoke.

Beca reached out and grabbed a hold of one of Chloe's hands brining it to her lips and pressing a kiss to it.

"I'll be out soon. I just need to soak the flight out of my bones." Chloe whispered a quiet okay, dropping one more kiss to her wife's head before exiting the bathroom. While Beca relaxed in the bath, Chloe changed into a t-shirt and shorts, carried out her nightly moisturising regime and then got settled in bed with a book.

It was 20 minutes later when, having fallen asleep, that she felt the bed dip next to her and the familiar warmth of her wife's body settle in close beside her. Turning around she snuggled right into Beca's arms, careful not to bump any injuries and rested her head against her wife's chest.

She pressed her ear right up against where Beca's heart beat, a hand coming up to rest under her cheek to feel the thumping sensation. Beca wrapped her arm around her wife and kissed the top of her head.

"Happy Birthday Chlo, I love you," Beca whispered as she slowly fell into a deep sleep for the first time in months. Chloe laid there, listening to the thumping of her wife's heart, the melodic sound the only gift Chloe ever needed in life.

"Best Birthday gift ever."


	13. Missing My Soldier

There was never a moment when Chloe didn't miss Beca when she was away on duty. Even when her mind was preoccupied with raising their daughters, teaching plans and house chores, her heart still ached for her wife.

It was the little things more so than anything else that would catch her by surprise, the things she never expected would summon up that longing for her wife to return home.

When someone would forget to use a coaster on the living room coffee table, it would remind Chloe of the countless petty arguments she'd had with her wife over the exact same thing.

When she noticed the volume on the tv was set to an odd number, how it would drive her wife crazy. If it wasn't on an even number or a multiple of five, Beca just could not relax.

The way there was always extra milk in fridge because her wife wasn't around to use up copious amounts of it in her breakfast cereal, or how the coffee machine wasn't ready with a fresh pot of coffee when Chloe came down in the morning because Beca wasn't around to set the timer the night before.

She missed not having to dig around the peanut M&M's in the popcorn bowl that Beca insisted on placing on top because it was the most convenient way to eat both.

She missed the sweet melody of a guitar or piano floating around her from the back of the house as she graded papers and the way Beca would sing their favourite songs to her when she was feeling a little down.

Chloe would get emotional when she would pull open Beca's dresser drawer and how the familiar waft of her wife's natural scent mixed with their usual laundry detergent would attack her senses. She would usually spend several minutes just breathing it in while pressing one of her wife's soft cotton t-shirts to her face.

Coming home to a house where the living room hadn't been turned into a princess fortress with couch cushions and blankets had been a particularly sore point. Chloe could picture Riley dressed up as a warrior princess while Beca played the role of her noble steed and Charlie laid in her baby pen playing the role of the damsel in distress, it always made her smile like an idiot.

Or the way Beca would lay on the couch with Charlie resting snuggly against her chest facing towards the television, because she knew the sound of her heart beat lulled the baby back to sleep and the colours from the tv screen mesmerised her to the point she forgot why she had been crying.

The grease stains that would stain her wife's jeans and shirts after she had been tinkering with the Camero. Or the little cartoon doodles Beca would etch into Chloe's work diary that laid out her schedule for the day so that she would have something to smile or laugh about when she opened it first thing in her classroom.

The way Beca would celebrate every achievement with ice cream no matter how big or small. Like Riley drawing her first picture, or Chloe being named teacher of the month by her students.

The way Beca would always stash Chloe's pillow behind her back while she was reading so that when the redhead settled in for the night after a shower, it was sleep warmed just how she liked it.

The little sticky notes with inspirational quotes Beca would leave between the pages of whatever book Chloe was currently devouring, reminding her that she was an awesome teacher, an awesome wife and an amazing mother.

Mostly, she missed the intimacy. She missed the sweet kisses early in the morning when they were welcoming a new day and the soft caresses as they said goodnight.

She missed the way Beca would stroke her hair as Chloe lay with her head in her lap reading a book, or the way Beca would, without asking, record documentaries she knew Chloe would like and store them away to be watched later when they were snuggled up on the couch having put the kids to bed.

She missed the feeling of having a hand to hold as she walked down the street, or the feeling of warm arms embracing her and holding her tight as she lay in bed, making her feel safe and secure.

But really what it all came down to, was that Chloe missed her wife, whether it was the things she loved about her or the things that drove her crazy, because they made Beca who she was.

Charlie was a clone of her Mama, small in stature but with plenty of attitude. Every now and again she would shoot Chloe this cute little half smile and it reminded the redhead so much of Beca that at times, it helped soothe the ache, other times it made her miss her soldier even more.

Riley was almost a mirror image of Chloe, though her hair was more strawberry blonde than ginger, but her eyes were identical to Chloe's. She had a bubbly personality to match though she had inherited Beca's sassy nature. Something that her Mama found amusing when Riley would shoot her aunt Aubrey a sarcastic comment. Beca would actually beam with pride.

Everywhere Chloe looked, everywhere she turned were reminders of what she was missing, of who she was missing and what killed her the most, was knowing there was nothing she could do about it.

Walking upstairs, Chloe entered her bedroom and placed the laundry basket full of folded clean clothes down on the bed. She picked up some items and placed them in her designated drawer before returning with another pile of clothes for Beca's. Chloe had a habit of wearing her wife's things to feel closer to her.

As she deposited the clothes in the drawer, she stopped and stared at the hoodie that sat untouched to the side. It was Beca's favourite hoodie, the one she always wore to relax and chill out in. Picking it up she clenched the item between both of her hands, hugging it to her chest.

The hoodie was always the last port of call for Chloe, the one thing of Beca's she turned to when she needed to feel her wife around her the most. It smelled just like her wife so she rarely wore it out of the fear of it losing that scent she missed so much.

It was the one thing that brought her comfort on days when she was feeling particular down and out about being separated from the one person she wanted near her the most.

Unfolding the item of clothing, Chloe pulled it over her head and straightened it out, gently pulling her red hair out and fluffing it out over her shoulders. Within an instant she felt that comforting wave of familiarity washing over her and a smile crept its way across her face.

Placing her hands in the pockets, she frowned when she felt something stashed away in it. Grabbing a hold of it and pulling it out she looked down to find a piece of paper clutched in her hand. Unfolding the sheet, a tear welled up in her eye as she read the words on the page scribbled in her wife's messy handwriting.

Don't' get too comfortable in this sweater, I will be claiming it back! Marrying you was the best thing I ever did. I love you Mrs. Mitchell xoxo

Trust her wife to know what she would do and find a way to cheer her up, even from across the sea. Chloe clutched the letter to her chest and hugged it tightly, a smile on her face even as tears slid down her cheeks.

"I love you Mrs. Mitchell," Chloe whispered, hoping that the words would somehow resonate with Beca from thousands of miles away.

"Mommy," came a soft voice and Chloe wiped her eyes before turning to find Riley standing in the doorway. She beckoned for her eldest daughter to approach.

"What is it sweetie?" Chloe asked as she crouched down to Riley's level. The little girl tugged on the drawstrings of the hoodie Chloe was wearing.

"Charlie's crying, I think she misses Mama," Riley stated with all the innocence in the world wrapped around her words. Chloe gave her daughter a soft smile, knowing that if Charlie was crying it was because it was feeding time and that Riley was the one who was really missing Mama.

"Well we can't have that can we? How about we get some ice cream and put on Moana. You think that would cheer her up?" Chloe asked, and Riley's eyes lit up as she nodded her head. Chloe couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her as she pressed a kiss to Riley's cheek and stood up, taking her daughters hand as they exited the room.

Some days were harder than others, Chloe had long ago accepted that, but she kept herself sane in the knowledge that if Beca was still fighting and still moving forward, she was one step closer to coming home.


	14. Chloe's Cause

"Hey guys, so I don't usually do this kind of thing but, a viral social media challenge was brought to my attention by my students today that I just, I couldn't ignore it. If you're not aware of it it's called the 22 Push Up Challenge."

Meredith Beale had been passing by on her way inside the house when she came to a stop and stood on her porch, watching her daughter from a distance. She could hear quite clearly what Chloe was saying, the benefit of owning a lake house that was secluded and what she could hear made her take pause.

"So, if you're following me on Instagram you probably know by now that my wife is a soldier in the US military fighting overseas," Chloe explained as she sat on the grass, her arms perched upon her knees, her phone gripped firmly in one hand.

"I think about her every day, worry mostly, about whether or not she's okay. But mostly I worry about the future and what will happen when she comes home," Chloe paused as she felt herself getting choked up, she gazed out over the lake and took a moment to collect herself before returning her attention to her phone.

"Every day 22 US Veterans commit suicide. People who bravely fought for our country just gone like that," Chloe emphasises her point with a snap of her fingers.

"I don't know about you guys but for me that's just completely unacceptable. I've seen first hand what these people give to their country, the sacrifices they make so that our freedom is protected. But who's there to protect them when they come home?".

Meredith Beale felt herself get emotional listening to her daughter speak. She loved Beca Mitchell like she were her own daughter and she prayed for her and her safety every night, but she had to be honest and admit that wrapped up in her comfy bubble, there were times when she too was guilty of forgetting about the sacrifices that were being made to keep her homeland safe on a daily basis.

It was so easy to tune it out, the age old motto out of sight, out of mind ringing true. But listening to her daughter, she could hear the pain and longing in her voice, something that could be easily missed by an outsider, but not by a mother.

She knew Chloe missed Beca, knew how worried and scared she was of waking up every day and finding out the unthinkable had happened, but in this moment, she understood that the depth of that pain ran much deeper.

Chloe feared the future, she feared what being in the military and the horrors of war would do to her wife, if or when she returned home, and in that moment, Meredith felt that feeling of despair at the thought of Beca or any soldier being so broken to the point they would take their own life and she grew angry.

Angry at the government for not doing more to protect their returning soldiers, angry at herself and everyone else who failed to do more than offer up a simple thank you. In that moment, Meredith Beale realised more needed to be done, she just had to figure out what. Turning her attention back to Chloe she listened as her daughter continued her little speech.

"I love my wife more than anything, and I want nothing more than for her to come home. But I also want to know that when she does, the support she needs, from me, from us, from the country she is fighting so hard to protect, will be there for her and for all the soldiers who make it home."

Chloe pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and bit down to stop herself from getting too emotional. She didn't want this to be an angry post. She wanted to it to be a reminder to everyone to think about the long term effect war has on the soldiers who do come home. It doesn't just end once they leave a war zone behind, it stays with them for the rest of their lives.

"That's why I'm supporting this challenge. I wanna thank my students for bringing me here to this cause, all the soldiers fighting for the cause, and I nominate Aubrey Posen, Jesse Swanson, Jessica Smith, Ashley Jones and my three older brothers to take part in the 22 Push Up Challenge."

Leaning her phone against one of the rocks of her mothers flower rockery, Chloe positioned herself and then began her set, thankful that she kept herself in shape as she began to feel the burn at push up number 15. Once she was done, she picked up her phone and stood up, turning her back towards the lake so that it was in full view on her phone.

"They're fighting for us, so now it's time that we fight for them. I want a better future for our soldiers, if you do too, make your voices be heard because, they deserve it, simple as that."

With that Chloe hit stop and typed up the hashtag caption and hit post. Within a minute, her brothers had posted comments squabbling over who could complete the challenge in the fastest time. Friends and family members commented with sweet messages, others left nothing more than a simple heart emoji.

After another brief moment, Chloe pulled up a picture of her and Beca, their arms wrapped around one another, foreheads touching, both with smiles on their faces and after hesitating for a moment, she posted it on her Instagram with a caption that read.

'I loved you then, I love you now and I will love you forever.'

Meredith Beale's phone chimed to alert her to new notifications, she looked down and noticed it was from Instagram and opened the app. There right in front of her eyes, was the very picture Chloe had just posted, and with the softest smile, she hit like and put her phone down. Gazing up at the ceiling she heaved out a sigh.

"Please God, if you're to answer any of my prayers, bring that girl home to us."


	15. Home For Dinner

Beca glanced at herself in the mirror, the familiar sight of army fatigues staring back at her. It was her first day returning to the military and she was anxious as hell.

Her palms were sweating, and if she lifted her hands long enough, it was impossible to miss the small tremor. After everything she had been though with therapy and physio, it felt good to be back up on her two feet and feeling like she was contributing something more.

Sure, she still had the mental traumas and physical scars from war, they would always be with her, but they didn't suffocate her like they used to. With time she had learned to control them rather than allowing them to control her.

Whenever she felt like she was losing that control, she would turn to Chloe and together they would talk through whatever issues needed dealing with. No matter what Chloe was doing, when her wife was in that state of mind and needed her to be there, she was there.

And the girls, they were thriving having both their moms around. Riley had relished in having her Mama home to do fun stuff with. They would build fortresses in the living room like they used to and Beca would sing songs with her and was teaching her piano.

Charlie was getting bigger by the day. Okay she was still small, she was her Mama's daughter after all, but she was developing every day and hitting milestones. She was now crawling and navigating the house and was even showing signs of being an early walker.

Things were beginning to regulate themselves and Chloe had been thrilled with how her family was doing. And Beca, Beca loved getting to be a mom and a wife again. She no longer felt like she was relying too much on Chloe or feeling like a burden.

Their relationship as wives felt more balanced. It was nice for Chloe to be able to come home after a hard day of lessons and have a home cooked meal waiting for her. It was nice to know that she wasn't solely responsible for the mountains of laundry that were piling up.

Most importantly, she loved coming home to her family as a complete unit. For the first time in a long time they were whole and healthy. It was what eased her mind a bit when she thought about Beca going back to work in the military.

Sure she had her fears, but she could see it in her wife that the opportunity to serve a purpose again was having monumentally positive effects on Beca's wellbeing, and she couldn't deny her wife that, no matter how much she wanted to.

No, instead Chloe would hold on to the promise Beca had made to always come home to them. For now, she would just live in the moment, and as it stood, Beca was in the army, but she was home based, and that was all that mattered. Every night she went to bed wrapped up in her wife's arms, and she woke up every morning the same way.

As Beca finished lacing up her boots, she stood in front of the mirror and regarded herself for a moment, just feeling the weight of the uniform again for the first time in months and how her situation had changed.

Putting on her uniform again used to be a sign of her impending deployment. This time she wasn't stepping into a war zone, but a military base to prepare other soldiers for that fight.

That wasn't to say Beca was safe from ever having to serve again. Having passed her physical and mental evaluations, she had been listed as fit to serve, meaning she could be called back in if things were to intensify again overseas.

As it stood, action in the Middle East had dwindled and US soldiers were now just trying to sustain that level of calm. It was a relief for Beca, and an even greater relief for Chloe.

Just as Beca was about ready to start her day, she felt two arms wrap around her midriff and a pair of lips press against the back of her neck. She smiled at the reflection of her wife staring back at her in the mirror.

"You forgot something," Chloe said and Beca frowned, wondering what she could've possibly forgotten. Turning in her wife's arms, she came face to face with bright blue eyes and a soft smile. Beca grinned back and leaned in, giving the redhead a deep passionate kiss.

"I think that about covers it," Beca smirked making Chloe grin bashfully, before the other woman lifted her hands, a familiar silver necklace dangling from them that glistened from the sunshine peeking in through the window.

"That's sweet, but I meant this," Chloe said, as she placed the St. Michael necklace around her wife's neck and fastened it, pecking Beca on the lips once she was done.

"There," Chloe said as she patted down the lapels of her wife's camouflage top and pressed her hands delicately against the smaller woman's chest, "now you're ready."

Beca smiled at her in an attempt to keep things light. She knew this wasn't easy for Chloe, but she was forever grateful that her wife loved her enough to push her own worries aside so that Beca could return to the place that made her feel like she was making a difference.

It wasn't about feeling fulfilled, Beca had achieved that the moment she married her wife and held her daughters for the first time. It was about feeling like what she did on a day to day basis mattered, that she was contributing something more than just tax dollars.

Beca gave Chloe one more peck on the lips and then they headed downstairs hand in hand. Charlie was perched in her high chair, Cheerios scattered in front of her as she grabbed one and popped it in her mouth.

Riley was sat in her booster seat at the table, eating her own bowl of Cheerios. When Beca walked in to the room in her uniform, the little girls bubbly mood changed.

Both Chloe and Beca noticed the shift in her mood and eyed one another, silently agreeing that Beca would be the one to talk to her. The brunette rounded the table and crouched down beside Riley's chair while Chloe took her seat next to Charlie, picking up the bowl of food and trying to spoon feeding her daughter who was too preoccupied with the handful of Cheerios she had.

"Hey Bug, why so sad?" Beca asked as twirled her daughters pigtail around her finger. Riley didn't look up, but she didn't need to for Beca to see the pout she was sporting.

"You're going away again," Riley said, her bottom lip trembling as she gallantly fought back the tears both her mothers knew were threatening to fall. Chloe sighed at what she heard.

She forgot that Riley was old enough to remember that Beca's job usually meant that Mama had to go away overseas for months on end. For the little girl, seeing her mother back in her uniform was a reminder of the routine they had grown accustomed to.

Beca stroked her hand up and down her daughters back, her other hand sliding under her daughters chin and tipping her head up to gaze at her.

"Oh baby no, I'm not going away for work anymore. I'm just going across town," Beca sighed, stroking her daughters hair. Riley gazed up at her through her eyelashes, looking unconvinced by what her mother had said.

"Then why are you wearing that?" Riley asked, her voice trembling. Chloe put down the bowl she had been holding gazed at her daughter from across the table.

"Sweetie, remember how I told you Mama has a really important job? How she helps defeat the bad guys so they can't hurt us?" Chloe asked, refusing to use the word killed because it was too deep a conversation to be having with an almost five year old. Riley turned her head to look at her mommy.

"Cause she's a superhero?" Riley asked and both Beca and Chloe beamed at her response. Chloe nodded, eyes glazed over with tears at her daughters description of her Mama.

"Yeah baby, cause she's a superhero. Well, Mama did such a good job keeping everyone safe that some important people have asked her to help train other superheroes across town," Chloe explained. Riley furrowed her brow in thought.

"Like the Avengers?," She asked and Chloe chuckled and nodded her head.

"Yeah Ry, just like the Avengers."

Riley chewed on her bottom lip as she thought about what her Mommy had said and then slowly, almost apprehensively, turned back to face her Mama, her little hands fisting the lapels of her camouflage top.

"So you're not going away again?" She asked, her voice quiet. Beca hesitated for a second. She don't want to say that she wouldn't be going away because that wouldn't be the truth, so chose her words carefully.

"Not this time Bug. They have other superheroes overseas so they don't need me over there," Beca explained as she tucked a strand of her daughters hair behind ear.

"For now I'm gonna be right here, with you Charlie and Mommy."

The reassurances from both her Moms seemed to be all that Riley needed as she climbed out of her chair and stepped into Beca's arms giving her a hug. The brunette welcomed it with open arms and squeezed her daughter tight, reminding the little girl of the place she felt the safest.

Glancing up at the kitchen clock, Beca took note of the time and realised she had to leave if she wanted to get to the base in time to be reacquainted with all of the procedures. Giving Riley a kiss, she sat the little girl back in her chair and rounded the table, picking up Charlie from her seat and hoisting her up into the air, making her giggle uncontrollably.

"You be good for Mommy, promise?" Beca asked, her response coming in the form of a bashful smile, and Beca kissed Charlie on the cheek before sitting her back in her high chair.

Chloe stood up and followed her wife out to the car, handing Beca her sunglasses from the table next to the door which the brunette hung from the pocket of her shirt, before sliding her arms around Chloe's waist and pulling her flush against her, kissing her deeply before pulling away.

"I love you. I'll be home by 5:00 for dinner," Beca said, before pulling away and exiting the house.

Chloe stood in the doorway and watched as Beca climbed into her army truck and pulled out of the driveway, her last words sending a shot of warmth through Chloe as she waved her.

Beca would be home.

True to her word, at 5:00 on the dot, Beca's truck rolled into the yard and before she could even make it to the front door, three sets of arms were reaching out to greet her. A welcome home she would grow to love.


	16. Charlie's Arrival

"CHLOE!"

The redhead knew that tone, it was one she had used herself three years prior and it sent a wave of panic down her spine as she shot up from the kitchen table leaving all of her grading behind.

Bounding up the stairs two at a time she skidded along the wood floors before coming to a screeching halt at the entrance to her bedroom.

There, sat upon the bed was her wife, one hand gripping the end edge of the bed, the other rubbing at the underside of her 9 months pregnant belly trying desperately to sooth the ache of the contractions she was currently experiencing.

Chloe dashed across the space between them and kneeled on the floor in front of her wife, trucking a stray strand of hair from Beca's ponytail behind her ear as she began going through the breathing exercises with the brunette to calm her down.

For the last month of the pregnancy, Beca had been restricted to plenty of bed rest to accommodate her condition and regulate her blood pressure. Ever since they found out she had placenta praevia, both women had made sure to keep stress to a minimum in both their lives.

Chloe in particular had been very strict about this, taking on an almost regimental routine to ensure Beca and the baby were both okay. She put a limit on playtime so Riley didn't wear her Mama out and she introduced a lot more organic foods to their diets.

She also made sure, that while Beca did get plenty of bed rest and relaxation, that they made it a point to go for a walk around the block every evening to ensure to keep her blood pressure regulated. Riley enjoyed the little evening jaunts and Beca was more than happy to get out of the house.

For her part, Chloe made sure to have all her grading and lesson plans done earlier than usual so that she could log in quality family time.

Beca and Chloe also made sure to carve out time in their day to spend with Riley, knowing that when the baby arrived, their hands would be quite full. They made sure to explain this to the little girl, about how Mama and Mommy would have to spend quite a bit of time with the baby for the first couple of months because the baby wasn't yet able to do things for herself.

Riley was a little peeved at first, she was used to having her parents undivided attention, but when Beca explained that they had done this for her when she was a baby, her attitude soon changed. If she needed her Mama and Mommy's help, then she figured it was okay for them to do the same for her baby sister.

That was one thing Riley had been exceptionally responsive to. She couldn't wait to be a big sister and the news that she would have a little sister thrilled her beyond belief. So much so that the little girl would make it a point to tell everyone she met that her Mama and Mommy were getting her a little sister to play with.

Chloe found this particularly endearing, especially the way in which Riley explained it to people, like they were just going to pick up a little sister from the local store. It was the cutest thing.

When not carrying out her motherly duties or her commitments as a teacher, Chloe could usually be found tending to her wife's needs. Back massage, foot massage, breast massage because yes, they needed tending to as well in Beca's opinion.

Mostly she tended to Beca's emotional needs. The hormones had really done a number on the brunette. Chloe had only ever seen her wife cry a handful of times. On their wedding day, the day Riley had been born, and while watching Inside Out. That one had really got her in the feels though she would never admit that to anyone else other than Chloe.

The change in hormones had made Beca a lot more vulnerable and it only served to endear her to Chloe even more, especially with how clingy she had been. Chloe was a very affectionate person, she was basically a human koala bear.

It had been an adjustment for Beca when they had first started dating. Not that she was against it or anything, it just wasn't something Beca overindulged in. Over the years her relationship with Chloe had instilled in her the importance of hugs and hand holding and how even a delicate caress could speak volumes of how much a person was cared for.

Chloe soaked up this element of her wife's pregnancy. Beca was always affectionate with her but the extra hormones made her extra affectionate, and Chloe lapped it up while it lasted.

The last month of the pregnancy had been stressful on both women. Beca was frustrated about being restricted to bed rest and Chloe was stressed out about her wife's blood pressure. They were more than ready for their daughter to come out and meet them, apparently, she was now ready.

Chloe coached Beca through some breathing exercises, rubbing her belly to distract her from the waves of discomfort she was feeling. Beca was hunched forward, hands now resting on her wife's shoulders, her forehead pressed against Chloe's, listening to the soothing words that were being whispered to her.

"Is it time to go to the hospital?" Chloe asked knowing that first time labour could take hours. Beca thought about it for a minute and realised her contractions were too close together to warrant waiting it out, so she nodded her head in place of speaking the actual words.

"Okay, can you sit tight for a minute while I grab the hospital bag and call my Mom?" Chloe asked. Riley had been having a little vacation with her grandparents out at the lake house, the couple wanting to give Beca and Chloe some alone time before their newest grandchild arrived. Considering the current situation they were in, the timing worked out perfectly.

Chloe dashed down the hall into the spare room, picking up the bag that had been pre-packed with everything they would need ready to go, and placed it on the bed. As she double checked that they had everything, including a set of clothes for Chloe who undoubtedly would stay at the hospital with her wife, the redhead pulled her phone from her back pocket and called her parents.

Meredith was beyond ecstatic and wished them luck, promising to bring Riley to the hospital once it was over and Beca and the baby were settled. Chloe thanked her and then paused, taking a deep breath.

"Mom I'm scared," she whispered down the phone and Meredith simply sighed that all knowing motherly sigh.

"Of course you're scared honey. You're about to bring another life into the world. It's natural to feel that way. But just think, a couple of hours from now, you'll be holding that baby girl in your arms and all the worry and fear will have been worth it."

Chloe inhaled a deep steadying breath and allowed herself a moment to collect herself, letting her mothers words sooth her. Beca was in pain and need Chloe to be strong and take lead on this and she sure as hell was going to return the favour the brunette had paid her when she was pregnant with Riley.

"Okay, okay I got this," Chloe coached herself, as she zipped up the bag and lugged it over her shoulder and then picked up the other bits and pieces she's need and tucked them under her arm.

"Give Riley hugs and kisses from me and tell her we'll see her soon," Chloe said down the phone before finally hanging up. By the time she got back to her room, Beca had managed to throw in some shoes and was sitting on the edge of the bed going through her breathe exercises.

"Okay, let's get you to the hospital. I'll call Dr. Lawrence on the way." As Chloe gently guided Beca to a standing position and brunette stopped and looked her wife square in the eye, a teary smile on her face.

"Chlo, we're having a baby," Beca cries, tears of both happiness and pain and Chloe chuckled and pressed a loving kiss to her lips.

"Yeah, we are, and I can't wait to see you hold our new daughter for the first time," the redhead replied as she gently squeezed Beca's hands and then guided her out of the room and down the stairs.

After Chloe had made sure the house was locked up, the were in the car and on the way. When they eventually arrived inside the hospital, the were greeted at reception by a nurse who quickly ushered Beca into a wheelchair and lead both women to the birthing suit.

It was within a matter of minutes that Dr. Lawrence had showed up, checking Beca over to see how far along she was, five centimetres and counting at the time, and went over all her other labour checks. The brunettes blood pressure was still a little high though the doctor believed it wouldn't be an issue.

"Baby's heart beat is strong," she said after checking the monitor, "things are progressing nicely. We'll keep an eye your blood pressure and I'll be back in little bit see how things are moving along. You're doing great Beca," Dr. Lawrence encouraged before leaving the from.

The soldier however didn't feel great. This was the worst kind of hell she had ever experienced, and she'd been to war. Chloe had been rotating between feeding her ice chips, massaging her back and prompting her to take walks.

It was killing her seeing her wife in pain, she could handle being the one in pain but she couldn't tolerate watching the people she loved experiencing it. However having been though this herself, she knew that this kind of pain, was worth it in the end. She just wished it would come to an end soon.

Hours passed and the contractions were really starting to kick Beca's behind. Exhaustion had set in and by the time Dr. Lawrence had arrived back in the room she was more than happy to let her know how she felt.

"Get this baby out of me!" Beca wailed, Chloe holding her hand as the doctor assessed Beca again, feeling around for longer than the brunette would've liked.

"Good news, you're ready to push," the doctor exclaimed as she gestured for the nurses to get ready and to help her fasten up the straps on her apron and pull on some latex gloves. Beca's whole demeanour suddenly changed.

"What?! No, no, no ,no I take it back I'm not ready to push," she mumbled and Chloe quickly grabbed a hold of her hand again and stroked her hair.

"Baby you are more than ready for this. We've been waiting nine months to meet this precious little girl and we're almost at the finish line. You can do this, I believe in you."

Beca gazed into Chloes determined eyes and somehow found the strength she needed in the loving gaze staring back at her. With a nod of her head, she gripped her wife's hand tighter and braced herself for what was to come, Dr. Lawrence peeking up at her for a brief moment.

"Okay Beca, when that next contraction hits I want you to push with everything you have okay."

Beca simply nodded and when she felt it she ground down and pushed as hard as she could, the strain almost knocking the air right out of her lungs. Chloe kept whispering reassuring words in her ear, words of love and encouragement. Much like Beca had done for her the first time around.

"Good, Beca, keep pushing, I can almost see head," Dr. Lawrence coached.

On and on it went, Beca pushed and pushed until she got confirmation that the head was out. Then, with what little energy she had left, and with her wife's arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders, she gave one final big push and all of a sudden she felt this rush, and then, the unmistakable sound of a newborn cry.

"Oh my God, she's here! You did it," Chloe cheered, tears streaming down her face as she pressed loving kisses all over her wife's sweat drenched face. Beca smiled lazily up at her, her eyes feeling tired and heavy as she struggled to keep them open.

"Oh my God, Bec's she's beautiful," Chloe whispered as she the redhead caught a brief glimpse of her new daughter who was currently being weighed and cleaned off by the nurses at the station at the bottom of the room.

Chloe heard the mumbling of Dr. Lawrence and one of the nurses whispering frantically at the bottom of the bed, she briefly heard the word haemorrhaging, the doctor working away and then Chloe turned back to her wife and noticed that the brunettes eyes were shut.

"Bec's, Beca," She said, gently shaking her shoulders with the arm still wrapped around them.

"Bec's baby, c'mon open your eyes, Beca, Beca open your eyes," Chloe frantically pleaded as a nurse came over and began to pull her away.

"Ma'am we're gonna need you to leave the room," the nurse said, sounding as calm as possible. Chloe frowned at her and shook her head, resisting the arms that were trying to take her away from her wife.

"What? No! No, Bec's," Chloe whimpered as she held on tightly to a hand had grown limp. She leaned down and pressed a kiss to her wife's lips, urging her to open her eyes but then a stronger set of arms were pulling her back, this time the male nurse intervened.

"Ma'am, your wife is haemorrhaging, Dr. Lawrence needs to work on her. We need you to wait outside, please."

At those words Chloe's strength seemed to leave her body as a sob escaped her. This time the nurse had no trouble removing her from the room, Chloe's eyes never leaving the sight of Beca on that hospital bed.

That image haunted Chloe as she sat in the waiting room, desperately counting down the minutes since she had been removed from the birthing sweet. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. They were supposed to be together welcoming their daughter into the world.

Their daughter, god, she was all alone. Her first moments spent surrounded by nurses and neither of her mothers with her to hold her, comfort her, sooth her. Suddenly the ache in Chloe's chest hurt even more.

Just as that thought was crossing her mind, the soft shuffle of a nurse walking into the waiting room and Chloe's tear stained face glanced up towards the woman slowly approaching her, a small little blanket wrapped bundle in her arms.

Before the nurse had even opened her mouth, Chloe's arms were instantly reaching up in a cradle position for her daughter to be placed in. The nurse gently depositing the unsettled newborn, trying not to jostle her too much.

As soon as the baby had been placed in Chloe's arms the dam broke and the floodgates opened. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, Beca was supposed to be the one holding their daughter while the redhead watched on lovingly.

"Someone needed their mommy," the nurse whispered as the newborns little grunts and tears of frustration began to settle down as Chloe cooed and rocked her. The redhead just gazed down at her in awe.

"She looks just like Beca," she replied weakly. The nurse gave her a sympathetic smile and then left her alone with her daughter, the redhead to consumed with the little bundle in her arms to care.

She didn't want sympathetic looks, she wanted to know her wife was going to be okay. She wanted to kiss Beca, tell her how much she loved her and spend time alone together with their new daughter.

She wanted to pick up the phone and tell her mother to bring Riley to the hospital so that she could meet her new baby sister. She wanted to call their friends and let them know the good news. But there was none to be shared.

Her daughter was here but she knew nothing of her wife's condition. She needed a support system but her mind was to hazy to make any calls. She wasn't sure if she would be able to speak even if she did pick up the phone.

Instead she gazed down at her daughter, who was now sleeping soundly in her arms, and held her close. Choosing instead to block everything else going on around her as she silently willed her wife to be okay.

A half an hour later, or a lifetime if you were to ask Chloe, Dr. Lawrence stepped into the waiting room, removing the cap from her head as she approached Chloe who was still engrossed in her daughter.

"Mrs. Mitchell," the doctor said, quietly so as not to spook the redhead. Chloe's bloodshot eyes instantly shot up and she bolted out of her chair, careful of the sleeping newborn in her arms.

"She's okay," the doctor instantly answered, her hands raised in a keep calm manner. Chloe heaved out a sigh of relief at hearing those words, the words she had been longing to hear.

"Can I see her?" Chloe asked, eyes already filled with tears, how she had any left she wasn't sure. Dr. Lawrence simply nodded her head and guided Chloe down the corridor to another room.

When they stepped inside, Chloe moved quietly, as if afraid any sound would somehow harm her wife. Beca was laid there on the bed, a heart monitor machine beeping away in the corner and a nasal catheter pumping pure oxygen into her system.

Chloe turned to the doctor who placed a hand on the redheads back and guided her closer to the bed to assure her that everything was okay.

"The haemorrhaging was caused by her condition, we managed to stop it without any further complications. We're giving her a blood transfusion to compensate for the blood loss and some oxygen too. She'll need to stay in an extra couple of days but aside from being quite groggy and achy, she'll be fine."

Chloe nodded to acknowledge that she had taken in everything that was said to her before reaching down and grabbing a hold of her wife's hand, squeezing it to let her know she was there. The doctor pointed to the opposite side of the bed.

"We brought in a little bassinet so you can keep baby nearby. We will have to take her in a little while to run all the routine tests and checks, but we'll bring her back as soon as we're done."

With that Dr. Lawrence excused herself from the room, leaving Chloe alone with her wife and daughter. Walking around the bed, Chloe gently laid her daughter down into the bassinet, making sure she was tucked up and comfortable.

Turning to the bed, she softly caressed her wife's head before leaning down and placed a long tender kiss on her forehead. Pulling up the seat next to the bed, Chloe sat down, keeping her wife's hand held firmly within her grasp, as he kept watch over both her wife and daughter.

A couple of hours later, Chloe was roused from sleep by the soft feeling of her hand being tugged. She woke up and glanced towards the bed noticing that Beca was beginning to come around.

"Chlo...," came her wife's strained and whispered voice. Chloe stood up and perfected herself carefully on the side of the bed, her right hand holding Beca's left as her other hand gently stroked brown hair.

"I'm here Bec's," Chloe replied, leaning down a little so she was closer to her wife. Beca's eyes slowly opened and gave Chloe a small half smile. Before her expression turned into a frown.

"They baby..." she trailed off, Chloe's hand pressing against her shoulder to stop her from moving. The ginger soothes her wife's fears instantly, a loving smile crossing her face.

"Is right here," Chloe said, pointing with their joined hands to the side of the bed, "she's so beautiful Beca."

A tired smile etched its way on Beca's face, her gaze lingering on her newborn daughter. She looked to Chloe to help her sit up and the redhead quickly obliged, knowing that Beca was desperate to hold their daughter.

Once her wife was settled comfortably, Chloe picked up the newborn and slowly lowered her into her Mama's waiting arms. Tears filled Beca's eyes instantly as she gazed down on what she had created. Her wife was right, their daughter was beautiful.

Chloe couldn't stop staring at the both of them as she sat next to her wife, her arm draped around Beca's shoulders, their heads touching. Finally, they were having that moment they had been waiting nine months for. It may have taken a slightly dark turn, but it came right again and now they were together with their newborn.

"Don't ever scare me like that again Bec's," Chloe whispered as she turned and pressed a long lingering kiss to the side of her wife's head. Beca turned to face her planted their lips together before they focused their attention solely on their daughter.

"Welcome to the world Charlotte Mitchell. We've waited so long for you. Your big sister is gonna love you."

After numerous phone calls and reassurances that everything was now fine, they were joined in the hospital by their families and friends. Chloe met her parents outside and beamed when she saw her daughter.

Riley was dressed in a pair of dark denim jeans, a pair of pink converse on her feet and t-shirt with 'I'm a big sister' emblazoned across the front in rainbow colours. She had a teddy bear tucked under arm which she informed her mommy was for her baby sister.

Taking Riley by the hand, Chloe kept pace with her daughters' little legs as they made their way down the corridor to Beca's room. Inside, the brunette was sitting up with baby Charlotte in her arms, her eyes lifting up at the sight of her first born.

"Hi baby, wanna meet your sister?" Beca asked and Riley nodded as Chloe picked her up to sit her on the bed. Riley climbed into her knees and learned forward staring down at the tiny baby wrapped in blankets.

"Hi, I'm your big sister," Riley said as if Charlotte could respond. Surprisingly, Charlotte emitted a hum, almost as if approving of the situation. Chloe and Beca chuckled and watched on with wet eyes as Riley offered up the teddy bear to her new sister.

As the girls became acquainted with one another, Beca glanced up over Riley's head and whispered 'I love you' to her wife, and Chloe reciprocated with a tender kiss on the lips.

Their little family was complete.


	17. Scars

"Alright guys, buddy up and remember, there are soldiers watching your every move so no funny business," Chloe reminded, as she and a few other teachers shepherded the students towards the museum at Fort Benning.

Seeing as there were more teachers than necessary chaperoning the trip, due to a number of student teachers currently earning their teaching practice at the High School, Chloe designated the bulk of the duties to two of her fellow staff members.

After spending the night before grading a plethora of English papers, the last thing Chloe wanted to do that day was spend hours relearning the ins and outs of the museum. After all, with her own personal ties to Fort Benning, she was all too familiar with the tour and the history it housed.

"Okay so the tour should be over by noon, I'll meet you back here at the bus. Remember, any funny business it's detention, no negotiating out if it. Any repeat offenders and make it a week," Chloe explained to the two young student teachers standing before her.

When the two women nodded their acknowledgment of the instructions they had been given, they turned and began guiding the students towards the entrance were a guide was waiting for them. Chloe waited until they were inside before making her way across the compound toward an area that was gated off with a guard standing at the post signing in and out all army personnel and visitors.

Chloe reached into her purse and pulled out a badge that had been given to her, one that allowed families to enter certain areas of the compound, outside of military areas. Even though Beca had chosen for them to live off base so Chloe was closer to work, they still had privileges reserved for families of US soldiers.

Flashing a smile and her badge at the officer on the gate, he nodded his head at her and pressed a buzzer that allowed her entry. Thanking him, she proceeded across the compound to the area she knew she would find her wife, the on site gym, an area that was open for use to anyone on the compound.

Beca had taken it upon herself to supervise cardio workouts with the new recruits. Being able to build muscle and carry heavy loads was one thing, but stamina would prove to be their biggest ally. Beca wanted to ensure that all aspects of what would be required of a soldier on the frontlines, was 100% across all levels. After all, it had been her own stamina that had helped her through several tour over the years and probably saved her life more times than she could count.

Chloe entered the building and waved to the guard behind the desk before making her way down the hall. There were people milling about, some starting their workouts, others finishing up. She engaged small chit chat with a couple of the other wives she met before continuing on her merry way.

Upon finding the gym that Beca was currently situated in, Chloe pulled on the handle of the double doors and stepped inside. Within seconds, she was bombarded with whistles and cat calls. Chloe was a beautiful woman, but the added incentive of a teacher showing up in a form fitting pencil skirt with a blouse neatly tucked in did nothing to tame the hot teacher image. She rolled her eyes and grinned as she passed by some of the young men currently ogling her from head to toe.

"Sorry boys, I'm spoken for," she sassed, raising her hand to flash her wedding and engagement rings that sat proudly on her finger. The boys just smirked at one another, the guy closest to Chloe being the one brave enough to ask.

"Oh yeah, well were is the luck guy then?" He asked and Chloe turned to gaze at him, her eyebrow raised in amusement, but before she could answer, an arm slipped around her waist.

"There is no lucky guy, just a very, VERY lucky lady."

Chloe turned her head to find Beca standing next to her and leaned her head in to connect their lips. The boys all wolf whistled, in good nature of course, and Beca grinned as she pulled out of the kiss, waving her arm at them.

"Alright, alright enough. Get out of here, we're done for the day."

The soldiers all saluted her as they left, picking up their sweaty towels and water bottles as they exited the gym. Chloe turned around and wrapped her arms wound her wife's waist, leaning in again to press another kiss to her lips before pulling back with grin on her face.

"Happy Birthday, to you, happy birthday, to you," Chloe began to quietly sing, imitating Marilyn Monroes sultry tone, "happy birthday Captain Mitchell, happy birthday, to you."

Beca ducked her head, cheeks flushing a light shade of pink. She wasn't a big fan of birthdays, she hated being the centre of attention and growing up an army brat that moved around a lot, they were usually small quiet affairs, especially as she got older.

But then she married the woman of her dreams and had two beautiful children and suddenly her birthday took on a whole other meaning. She started to enjoy making the day of her birth, the celebration of life because she had three wonderful ladies who made hers all the better.

That being said she still wasn't one for lavish affairs or parties. No, Beca's idea of the perfect birthday was getting to be with her wife and daughters and just chilling out or doing something as a family, and Chloe was very good about not pushing her into doing anything else to appease everyone else.

"So Riley has been crafting her little heart out all day to make you the best birthday card ever, her words not mine," Chloe said earning a chuckle from Beca, "and Charlie has been busy helping grandma make the perfect birthday cake, and by that I mean she's been putting her hand in all the cake batter and trying to eat it."

Beca's heart swelled about four sizes bigger as she thought about her little girls. As they got older and there personalities developed, she began to see more of herself and her wife in them.

Riley could be sassy and sarcastic like Beca, but she was incredibly bright and kind hearted like her wife. She had Chloe's focus, once she set her mind on something she saw it through to the end and she was really outgoing. She loved to be around people.

Charlie was more reserved like Beca, she didn't warm up to people quite as quickly as her older sister. She preferred to sit back and observe before deciding whether or not to flash that heart melting smile. She was still too young to really establish interests, but she seemed enamoured with being read to. Chloe hoped that she would grow up to share her love of books.

"You're still leaving early today right?" Chloe asked. She herself had two free periods at the end of the day, and since she had spent the night before finishing grading papers so she wouldn't have to use those periods,she was eager to get home so they could celebrate Beca's birthday. The brunette nodded her head to confirm that she was still planning on leaving early.

"Good. We can have a late afternoon birthday party with the girls, cake, presents the whole bit, then later," Chloe purred pressing right up against her wife, "Aubrey is taking the girls for the night and you and I will have the house to ourselves."

Beca bit her lower lip as she tightened her hold around her wife's waist, a shot of arousal coursing through her at the thought of having grown up alone time as they had taken to calling it. Chloe smiled in amusement, noticing the way Beca's breathing had become shallow. She loved that she still had that effect on her wife.

"We can get some take out from that Chinese place you love. Open a bottle of red, maybe finally get round to using those jacuzzi jets we installed in the bathtub and see where the night goes," Chloe cooed, reaching her hands up to massage the muscles at the back of Beca's neck.

"Sounds perfect," Beca whispered as she leaned in to kiss Chloe again. After a couple more sweet pecks, Beca checked the time on her watch and then returned her attention to her wife.

"I've got some time before the next training drill session. You got time for some coffee?" She asked and Chloe quickly nodded her head.

"The museum tour won't be finished till 12 so I've got plenty of time before I've gotta get back."

With that, they left the gym and grabbed a couple of coffees to take on a stroll around the compound. Beca relayed the events of her morning, the discussion that had taken place about implementing new training drills to combat any terrorist attacks on home soil.

The thought alone made Chloe's skin crawl. It was one thing to fear a war overseas because your wife was serving on the frontlines. The thought that something like that could ever happen on their own back doorstep where anyone in her family could be in certain danger, wasn't something she could bear to think about.

The very idea terrified her. She knew deep down, that if anything happened, Beca was trained in combat and would do anything to keep them safe, including risking her own life. But that was exactly what scared her.

There had been several occasions where she could've very nearly lost her wife while she was serving overseas, some of which she had not been aware of until they had been revealed to her during one of her wife's counselling sessions. The idea that it could ever happen in the US, that would just be a double slap to the face.

"Oh shoot, I gotta get back to the bus," Chloe said as she pressed a kiss to her wife's lips. "I'll see you later." Beca smiled into the kiss and wished her a safe trip home before returning to her duties.

Later that evening, Beca stepped inside her house and tossed her keys in the bowl next to the door. She called out to her family to announce her presence and then strode through the living room then rounded into the dining room.

"Surprise!" Chloe and Riley called out, a Happy Birthday banner hanging from the archway behind them and balloons scattered all around. Charlie was sat propped up on Chloe's hip, a little party hat on her head and a big smile on her face at the sight of her Mama.

"A party for me?!" Beca played along, acting like this whole party had really been a surprise. Riley nodded vigorously as she ran around the table and leaped into her mother's arms.

"Happy Birfday Mama," She said as Beca pressed a sweet little peck on her lips, an adoring smile on her face.

"Thank you baby, I love it. It's the best surprise ever!" Beca claimed making Riley giddy with excitement. She placed the little girl down on the ground and then made her way over to her wife and youngest daughter.

"Hi baby, aren't you just the cutest thing in your birthday hat," Beca cooed and Chloe pretended to gush.

"Thanks babe." Beca rolled her eyes as she took Charlie into her own arms and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. How a baby that was coming up on being a year old could still be so small she would never know, though Chloe often teased about it being in the Mitchell genes.

"Blow out the candles Mama," Riley said as she tugged on the leg of Beca's camo pants making the brunette and her wife giggle. It may have been Beca's party but Riley was calling the shots.

"Okay but you guys gotta help me," she said as she positioned herself at the head of the table, Riley now perched on her knees on a chair next to Beca and Charlie in the brunettes arms, all of them braced for action.

Chloe quickly took out her phone and watched with a smile on her face, her heart melting at the sight as her girls blew out the small few candles dotted around the homemade red velvet cake, snapping multiple pictures of the scene before her.

"What did you wish for Mama?" Riley asked and Beca grinned down at her.

"I didn't wish for anything sweetie, I got everything I ever wanted the day I met your Mommy, cause then I got you and Charlie too," Beca replied, glancing up to wink at Chloe who had grown misty eyed at the answer.

"Alright who wants cake?" Chloe called out, clapping her hands together and pulling her emotions back in. It was a happy day, she planned on keeping it that way. It was the first of Beca's birthdays they were getting to spend as a family all together and she wanted to make sure her wife enjoyed every single minute.

Chloe made quick work of cutting the cake, giving Riley a paper plate, placing some on the table of Charlie's high chair so that the little girl could feed herself and then Chloe cut a piece and lifted her arm, her hand hovering underneath the slice of cake and fed it to Beca who grinned as she wrapped her arm around her wife and took a nice chunk out of it.

Later that evening after Riley had gifted Beca her birthday card and present from herself and Charlie, Aubrey stopped by to pick up the girls. Charlie fussed a little at first until Aubrey's husband appeared with their dog Poppy and suddenly the toddlers attention was out the door after the furry little fiend.

"Is it wrong that I'm looking forward to a night alone, just the two of us?" Chloe asked, coming to stand in front of her wife and wrapping her arms loosely around her neck. Beca pressed a kiss to her lips and placed her hands on Chloe's hips, smiling at her.

"No, it makes you human. I love those girls more than anything in this world, but I'm not gonna lie and say I don't enjoy these little moments we get to have to ourselves."

Chloe leaned in for a deep passionate kiss. She longed for these moments where she could have Beca just like this and with it being her wife's birthday, she was going to make sure to make it extra special.

After copious amounts of Chinese food, due in part to Chloe's inability to decide on what she wanted and therefore over ordering in case she changed her mind, both women were tuckered out on the couch digesting their meals.

"I'm so glad I'm back in the gym," Beca whined as she poked at her abs, making sure they hadn't turned to jiggle after all the food and cake she'd had that day. Chloe just chuckled and whacked her on the arm.

"Hey, it's your birthday, if you can't overindulge on the day of your birth than when can you?" She asked. Beca reached over and laced their fingers together, raising their now joined hands so she could press a kiss to the back of her wife's.

"I am grateful though. This has been the best day. Thank you," she said and Chloe smiled at her before sitting up.

"It's not over yet. I've still got one more thing for you. Well, two actually, but the other one is more a gift for the both of us," she winked as she hopped off the couch and dashed into the study room across the hall, the one room Beca rarely entered as she knew Chloe was usually buried away grading papers.

The redhead returned a moment later with Beca's guitar case in hand and she moved some of their dishes out of the way so she could lay it down on the coffee table. There was a bow attached to it which confused Beca who gazed up at her with a furrowed brow.

"Go ahead open it."

Beca did as she was told, flipping the latches and then gently lifting the the lid up. She sat there stunned. Staring back at her was a Gibson Songwriter Deluxe Studio acoustic guitar.

"Chloe, this is waaaaay too much," Beca argued, knowing that a guitar like that could easily cost as much as two and a half grand, more because it was a left handed guitar and they were so hard to come by. Chloe simply shook her head and sat down next to her.

"Becs, you always go above and beyond to give me and the girls everything we could want without asking for anything in return. I mean you practically put everything you earn into our savings or making sure we have everything we could need," Chloe said, feeling quite passionately about the subject.

"You have gone out of your way to do everything for everyone else, including protecting your own country. You deserve this and so much more. You've had your old guitar since you first learned to play. It's time to give it a rest and start a new chapter. Besides, Riley spent many excitable hours talking about how you would love the glitter rim around the soundhole."

Beca giggled at this, knowing that Riley would in fact make a claim like that to cover up for her own enthusiasm over the simple detail. Reaching out a hand she brushed it over the neck and body. She couldn't deny that it was an awesome guitar and she knew her wife would have put a lot of thought into getting one that would be perfect for her needs. Turning to Chloe she placed her hand on her thigh and gave it a loving squeeze.

"I love it, thank you," she sighed, leaning over to kiss her wife who gently cupped her face in return. Chloe pulled back from the kiss and reached out her hands, plucking the guitar from the case. Chloe placed it in her wife's lap and then gestured to the body of the guitar at the base of the neck on the reverse side of the guitar.

"I got it engraved," she said and Beca turned it over so that she could see better with the light. There, lightly engraved in cursive lettering, was CRC, Chloe, Riley, Charlie.

A smile spread across Beca's lips as she ran her finger over the lettering. She'd had the same thing engraved on her old guitar, adding a letter over the years for each member of her family. It felt good to have that piece of sentimentality carried over onto the new guitar.

Before she knew what was happening, Chloe had plucked a guitar plec from inside the case and was holding it out towards her wife.

"Well come on then, play me something. I had the guy at the store tune it and everything."

Beca laughed and accepted the plec, positioning the guitar into a more comfortable sitting on her lap and strumming the strings a couple of times before finally settling into a soft familiar tune.

Chloe instantly recognised the sweet melody of Make You Feel My Love floating through the air around them and she instantly felt a tingle rush from her head right down to her toes. This was their song. The song they had first danced to as a couple, the song that had been playing when Beca proposed. The song Chloe always made sure Beca put on every playlist for the car or around the house.

But the times Chloe loved it most, was when Beca would sing it to her just like she was now. Her wife had such a beautiful voice. Chloe wished she had done something more with it. But if this was to be their life, she would gladly play the part of her number one fan.

When Beca had finished, Chloe couldn't wait any longer, the second she had put down the guitar she was on her, hands trying to find purchase on any part of Beca they could get a hold of. The brunette was stunned at first but quickly caught on and became more involved, one hand coming up to tangle in soft red hair.

The hunger for more was driving them both crazy and Chloe quickly pulled Beca up from the couch and up the stairs, their bodies colliding with the door of their bedroom as they traded sloppy kisses and tried to undress one another without parting.

Chloe pushed her wife onto the bed and then climbed up herself, straddling Beca's hips and pressing kisses to every piece of skin she could find. It had been a while since they'd been able to be this intimate. Sure they had their moments while the kids were asleep, but it was always quiet and careful, almost methodical.

It was rare these days between their careers and family to find these moments where they could be deeply intimate. They always had to fit it in between naps, housework and bed times. Even at night it was risky with Charlie sleeping in the next room, and Riley was prone to walking in after a nightmare.

There had been times when they didn't even have time to remove their clothes, they literally just had to get down to business. Not the best way to make love to your wife but it got the job done.

However when they did have those moments, they made sure to make the most of them and boy was Chloe planning on taking full advantage. It was in the heat of the moment that she realised it has been a long time since she'd last had her wife this way and made the redhead a little emotional as she stoked Beca's face and whispered I love you.

Hours later and Beca was spent, literally laying lifeless on the bed, her eyes closed as sleep began to take hold. Chloe lay tucked into her wife's side, her finger delicately tracing over the silver lines of scars that littered Beca's body. Medals of war that could never be lost or misplaced.

It hit her hard, seeing those scars there when she could so vividly remember how Beca's body looked before she ever enlisted. The obvious distinction before and after war. It was a bitter pill to swallow for Chloe.

Those scars were reminders of the sacrifices that had been made, the risks that had been taken by Beca so that she could serve her country and protect their freedom and liberty.

It further enraged Chloe when she thought about the division at home. People bickering over whether or not it was disrespectful to kneel during the national anthem.

Beca had served to protect democracy. See Beca didn't care if someone chose to stand or kneel, as long as they chose to protest in a respectful way that was fine. That was their right. Just like a person had a right to stand for the anthem.

You see, even though Beca grew up a military brat, even though she served in the US Army, served her country, she wasn't one for following blind patriotism. She didn't believe that a person must live or die by the flag. What good would it serve if it threatened equality, threatened the very democracy it stood for?

What good would it achieve if that very flag that was supposed to represent a nation of people became the very reason it became divided? See patriotism was a bitch like that. It was one thing to be proud of your country, it was another thing to be so blinded by that patriotic stance that you couldn't see when it is doing you a disservice.

Chloe had watched countless times as Beca struggled to get past the conflict of serving to protect her countries democracy, and serving a president she didn't believe in. Beca hated the rhetoric that was being spewed by the people in charge.

Hated that what she was fighting for was being slowly tossed aside in favour of political propaganda. It tore her up inside. Whenever she stood on that frontline, she wondered if she was doing the right thing, or if she was simply another expendable piece in someone one else's political game.

She wanted to serve a country that respected the fact she was gay. Respected the fact that she had a wife and two daughters. Respected the fact that people do come from all different walks of life, some gay, some straight. Black, white, Christian, Muslim, male, female, rich, poor.

But somewhere along the lines, while she had been away, everything got messed up. Suddenly the progress that had been made to make the country more progressive, more inclusive, was being pushed aside to favour one side over the other.

Beca didn't want that. She had risked her life against terrorists. Had spent months at a time separated from her family and for what? Ever since coming home, Beca had seen how the landscape had changed while she had been away and it made her sick.

But still she served. Still she heard the call and she went running back. Because she knew, deep down, it was only a matter of time before something was unearthed that would cause havoc for all, and she needed to be ready to defend her family and her home.

Every scar was a reminder of that sacrifice, of the challenges Beca had overcome and every single one of them, although tinged with an element of mortality that Chloe couldn't bear to think about, also made her proud as hell of the women she got to call her wife.

She ran a finger along the scar where Beca's spleen had been removed. She hated knowing that her wife had been laid up in a hospital bed without any family around her. The scar over her hip, the scars on her arm and leg, the scar on her shoulder, just some of the countless silvery protruding lines that stood out against porcelain skin.

And then Chloe's fingertip came to Beca's left side, just below her breast and to the side, where she knew sat two angel wings, the letters CRC sitting right in the centre.

Beca had gotten the wings and the letter C first tattooed into her side after marrying Chloe so that she would have her wife with her when she returned to the frontlines, adding in the R and C after her daughters were born.

"Everyone has a guardian angel, I have three watching my back wherever I go," Beca would say, and Chloe would melt just that little bit more each and every time. No matter where Beca went, her girls were always with her.

Chloe had considered getting a tattoo tribute to her family as well but she wasn't sure yet of what it was she wanted. Whatever it turned out to be it had to be perfect. All of Beca's tattoos had special meaning behind them, Chloe wanted hers to be just as sentimental.

Leaning down Chloe placed several kisses over Beca's body, doing her best to reach as many scars as possible and then she placed one last lingering kiss just over her wife's heart.

Somehow, Chloe had been blessed to find a partner so selfless, so empathetic, so respectful of her and everything that she was. She did it in so many ways and Chloe especially loved how Beca was raising their daughters.

Beca taught Riley how to braid hair and what a socket wrench was. She encouraged her to pursue dance as well as karate. She played dolly's with Riley and tossed a baseball around with her.

Beca encouraged her daughter to pursue everything life could offer regardless of what people thought and she was already beginning to encourage Charlie to do the same thing.

This was something that meant the most to Chloe as she had always known that she wanted to raise her children in a loving environment that nurtured their interests no matter what they turned out to be. She never wanted to pigeonhole them into gender specific areas in life.

That was why before she ever got married she already had an idea in her head of the kind of partner she wanted in life. Someone who could be her equal, be that team player that worked just as hard to sustain their home.

Bumping into Beca that day on the quad back at Barden had been the best accident to ever happen to Chloe. She didn't just find a partner, she found her soulmate, the person she was supposed to be with above anyone else.

Yes they had experienced their fair share of hardships, what couple hadn't, Beca had medications prescribed by a counsellor in the top cabinet of their en-suite to prove it. But they always came through it together.

Reaching up her hand, Chloe stroked brown locks of hair from her wife's face and gently caressed her cheek, gazing at the sleeping form of her wife next to her. Even though she couldn't see them, she knew of the scars that lay within Beca's mind.

The many traumas her wife had witnessed, the horrors of war that could never be unseen. There were days when she wished more than anything she could wave a magic wand and make Beca forget about them. But that would never happen.

Those memories would follow Beca to her grave and they both had to live with that. But with the power of counselling and the brunettes willingness to do whatever she needed to do to get better, she had learned to make peace with images in her head.

Beca still had her moments when she needed relief, in those times she would seek out Chloe and they would hole up on the back porch or on the couch in the living room when the kids had gone to bed and just talk it out.

And Chloe would listen, patiently, and allow Beca those moments to just cry or be frustrated. Then, when Beca felt like she had talked out everything she needed to get off her chest, she would pull her wife into her arms and whisper her love and gratitude for always being her anchor.

Chloe had witnessed marriages between other military couples implode or dissolve over the years due to the stress of trying to live with the wounds left behind by war and it was something that deep down, she had feared at one point or another.

But Beca opening up the way she had, trusting Chloe with the weight of all that she carried on her shoulders, that trust had strengthened their marriage in so many ways because it showed Chloe that Beca loved their family too much to ever let anything get in the way of them being together, of being happy.

For the first time in a long time, everything in their world felt normal, perfect even. Their kids were thriving, they both were in a steady working environment, they had a routine and more importantly, they had one another. Everything was perfect. Until it wasn't.

 _1 Month Later..._

Chloe popped the dishes from breakfast into the dishwasher and then retreated into the living room to finish grading papers. Riley was having a play date with her teddy bears out in the back garden and Charlie was snoozing away in her playpen in the corner of the living room.

Chloe sat down and placed her mug of tea on a coaster, flicking on the tv to the news channel as background noise. She was half through the last stack of papers and taking a sip of her tea when an emergency news bulletin broke through the silence, and straight through Chloe's heart. The banner across the bottom of the screen displaying one simple yet earth shattering sentence.

' _ **The United States Under Terrorist Attack'**_

The only sound that could be heard, was the sound of ceramic smashing to the floor as the mug slipped from Chloe's grasp and hit the ground. The redhead sat with her hand over her chest, all colour draining from her face as she watched the images of bombings that had hit various major cities and airports.

In that moment Chloe bolted for the kitchen and picked up her iPhone off the counter, quickly pulling up her wife's number and pressing the call button. She waited with baited breath for the dial tone but instead she was met with nothing more than Beca's voicemail and all she could do in that moment, was pray to god it wasn't the last time she heard her wife's voice.

" _Hi, you've reached Beca, I can't pick up your call right now but if you leave a message I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Bye."..._


	18. Holding Out For A Hero

"DAMMIT" Chloe cried as she slammed her phone down on the kitchen counter. She had been calling Beca relentlessly for the last hour, trying to make some sort of communication with her wife so she could relieve the crushing feeling that had settled in her chest.

At that moment her mother walked in with a fully dressed Charlie resting on her hip. The ginger gazed up, her hand pressed against her forehead, trying to keep the tears at bay. Meredith gazed sympathetically at her youngest child.

"Sweetie I know you're worried, but there could be a million reasons for Beca not answering her phone. The city is on lockdown, people are being directed towards safe zones, she could be stationed and waiting for us at one right now," Meredith reasoned.

Chloe wanted so desperately to believe her mother, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right and it was making her feel ill. Glancing at Charlie she knew in that moment that she had to do everything to protect her family until they reunited with Beca.

She had packed up enough clothes, toys and essentials to keep the girls occupied and herself and Beca functioning, as well as some sentimental things like photo albums and family treasures and keep sakes she had stowed away that she couldn't bear the thought of parting from.

She knew she was probably bringing more than she needed with her, but the SUV had enough space to hold it and who knew what would happen to their home. Taking a deep breath, Chloe stowed her phone away in her back pocket and made her way towards her mother, lifting Charlie from her grasp.

Taking one last look around her house, she followed her mother outside to the waiting cars, locking the door behind her, Riley already buckled into her car seat with Chloe's dad keeping her occupied.

While some would've been devastated to have to leave their family home behind Chloe couldn't bring herself to care. To her it was just a shell that housed what she held dear. Her home was wherever her wife and daughters were.

If that was in a three bedroom house or a cardboard box it didn't matter, as long as Chloe had her family she had everything she needed. But in that moment, her family was down a member and until they were reunited, Chloe's family would never be home again.

Backing out of the drive, Chloe put the SUV in drive and carefully followed after her parents car. The family were headed to a compound just on the edge of Columbus. The city had been divided into safe zones, with Chloe and her family being stationed in the area closest to the army base.

She hoped and prayed the entire journey that she would find Beca there because she didn't know what she would do if they were separated much longer. Glancing to the passenger seat, her eyes teared up as they landed on the two guitars carefully sitting there, Beca's guitars. Just then a little voice piped up from the back seat.

"Where are we going Mommy?" Riley asked, tugging on the ear of her Troll doll as she gazed out the window. Chloe wiped the tear from her eye and glanced in the review mirror at her eldest child.

"We're going on an adventure sweetie. Like Poppy & Branch," Chloe said, trying to sound upbeat and positive. Riley returned her gaze, brushing strands of hair that had fallen loose from her ponytail off her face.

"Is Mama coming?" She asked, and Chloe swallowed thickly. She couldn't lie, but she couldn't tell the truth either. She was stuck. So she decided to just be truthful while wit-holding the heavier details.

"Mama's working right now Ry, but I'm sure if she finishes what she's doing she'll come find us and we can have fun together."

That was all Riley needed to hear, it was all she needed to know in that moment, and by the grace of God, the car journey began to rock both little Mitchell girls to sleep, Chloe grateful that she wouldn't have to answer anymore questions.

When they finally rolled up to the compound, both her car and her parents car were searched and their passports examined thoroughly before they were given entry, their names ticked off the list and then guided inside and shown where to set up their own mini base.

TV screens dotted around the common areas of the compound streamed countless images of cities up in smoke from bombings, flashes of gunfire breaking through in what could only be described as a war zone.

Chloe never thought she would live to see the day that the US would ever be sucked into a war, but they were under attack, and they somehow had to figure out how to fight back, win and re-stabilise society.

For the past hour, the redhead had been touring the surroundings, trying to acclimate, but more importantly, trying to see if she could locate her wife. There were countless soldiers patrolling the grounds but so far, none of them were Beca.

"CHLOE!" She heard in the distance, and turned to find Aubrey running towards her. The ginger met her half way, flinging her arms around her and hugging her tight.

She'd heard through the grapevine that Jessica, Ashley and their families were settled in another compound along with Chloe's brothers and their families. The areas had been split by district and suburb which made locating family and friends hard, but not impossible.

Not long after Chloe arrived, she discovered that Beca's parents were using their military credentials to help organise the compounds, and that Jesse and his fiancée were also in the same compound, though their paths had yet to cross.

"Oh my God, are you and the girls okay?" Aubrey asked, her hands cupping Chloe's elbows as the redhead rested her hands on the blondes arms. Nodding her head, Chloe gestured with her thumb over her shoulder towards the building her family had been settled in.

"We're fine, the girls are with my parents and they were able to make contact with my brothers," Chloe said, taking a deep breath as Aubrey watched on with concerned eyes.

"I can't get a hold of Beca," Chloe managed to say through a strained voice, struggling against the lump in her throat. It had been hours and she still hadn't been able to make contact with her wife. Chloe had eventually conceded defeat to the idea that Beca had been pulled back in to combat, and she was terrified.

What if something happened? What if Chloe never got the chance to tell Beca everything she needed her to know before it was too late? Their morning had started off pretty routine, they ate breakfast as a family and said their usual 'I love you's', but in the midst of everything going on, looking back Chloe realised it wasn't enough, it would never be enough.

Aubrey could see the panic building up behind Chloe's glassy eyes and she knew she needed to calm her down. Worrying about the unknown would only serve to destroy them in their current situation. She knew it was easy to think that way when she knew her own family was safe, but that was exactly why she needed to be the one to keep her best friend in tact.

"Chloe, listen to me, we don't know anything. For all we know Beca could be just fine. Until we get word, then we all need to believe everything is okay and we need to make sure your two little girls are taken care of okay," Aubrey said with a voice that left no room for argument.

At the mention of her daughters, Chloe began taking deep breaths. Aubrey was right, she needed to keep it together, she needed to carry on like normal until they knew either way.

"Okay, okay," Chloe whispered with a nod of her head, wiping the tears from her face. With Aubrey's arm around her shoulders, she let herself be guided back to the common area to meet up with her folks. If she couldn't be with Beca, she could at least be with the rest of her family.

Over an hour away in downtown Atlanta, Beca guided her squadron through the rough terrain, the area a mass of bombed out destruction. Parts of buildings sat in ruin next to burned out cars. Beca could even smell the distinct odour of burnt flesh, the reminder of the lives that they couldn't save.

They stayed low, moved quietly, taking aim at any hostile target that got in their way. It was hard for the soldiers to wrap their heads around. They had all battled conflict on foreign soil, but never could they have imagined that on that particular day, they would be facing that same conflict on home turf.

Beca kept a steady grip on her rife and kept her breathing steady. In the back of her mind she relived the moment they had been told the US was under attack. Beca instantly jumped into defensive mode, working with her commanders to set up safe zones to hold the people of the city and surrounding areas until they had shut down the attack.

Knowing that the news would likely break and send Chloe into a tailspin, Beca made the decision not to call her, hearing her wife's voice would only make her job harder. She couldn't bear to hear the worry or concern, not knowing if they would ever see one another again. She wanted to preserve the memory of the sweet declarations of love they had shared that morning.

If this were to be her last day on Earth that was what she wanted to remember. The smiles on her wife and daughters faces, those images were the only thing she wanted to see. Not panic, anguish or despair.

So she avoided calling Chloe in the heat of the moment, instead calling her wife's parents, informing them of the situation they were in and giving them guidance on what was planned. She promised to do her best to get to them when she could, but part of her couldn't help but feel it was an empty promise.

Enemies of the state had invaded her homeland, the land that housed her family, and that was not acceptable in Beca's eyes. She would fight to her very last breath to ensure that Chloe and their daughters were safe, even if that meant sacrificing her own life in the process.

Being blindside by an attack, meant fighting on the back foot. They had no intel on their enemies, at least not yet, and that meant every manoeuvre was pure shot in the dark, some worked out in their favour, others saw soldiers fall to gun fire and explosives they couldn't have seen coming.

To keep their location off the radar at ground level, soldiers had forgone two way radio communication. They couldn't risk being heard. This meant sending messages through and hoping the non response at the end of the line was received and the commands carried out.

It was a logistical nightmare for command, but for soldiers used to being on the ground, it was just another day at the office. They had trained and learned to adapt, however it wasn't very often they were sent hurtling into a danger zone without any form of strategic planning beforehand.

Soldiers were depending on their squad leaders to use their knowledge and experience to adapt to the situation they were in. However it was proving difficult when their responsibilities were mounting, and the very fact they were in a built up city as opposed to a desert, made keeping track of soldiers and enemies an almost impossible task.

The area provided too many opportunities to hide, and while base were slowly getting to grips with the situation, it wasn't fast enough for those on the ground. Soldiers were falling just as quickly as enemy fighters, and if they were to stop them anytime soon, they needed to get the upper hand.

As Beca sat behind a large pillar, she noticed a signal being sent her way from a fellow soldier behind. Lifting herself to a crouching position, she signalled for the soldier next to her to take post as she carefully made her way back to the pillars a couple of feet away.

Once she was safely positioned behind the one, the soldier handed over a phone, their only means of non verbal communication, that he had stored in his pocket, a message from base opened on the screen. The enemy hotspot in Atlanta had been located, and they were being ordered to move in and eliminate the threat.

Beca glanced at the map that was attached and knew she only had minutes to huddle her squad before a convoy passed by to pick them up. Signalling her fellow squad members, she lowered her head as she waited on them to join her.

She took a deep breath, knowing that what they were about to do could essentially be a suicide mission. Gazing around at all the faces, she quickly explained the situation and the order that had been made and she could see the look of fear in some faces, the faces of new blood that had only just begun their military careers.

"Look screw the order, as far as I'm concerned this government is the reason we're in this mess and I don't know about you guys but I'm not taking any orders from those assholes, no disrespect to anyone here who wants to," Beca said, looking at the somewhat stoic faces of her squadron.

"There's a very real chance that whatever is waiting for us at that location, will take us down. Now, as far as I'm concerned, I'm gonna go and meet whatever is waiting, because I have a family, and I made a promise to protect them and keep them safe no matter what. Like hell am I gonna let those bastards hurt them. But it's up to you whether or not you wanna come with me."

Each soldier looked around, probably wondering what the other was thinking, until eventually, one by one, they pledged to keep fighting. Just as the pact had been made to carry on as a group, the convoy of trucks to pick them up arrived and they climbed in.

Once safely tucked away inside, Beca reached for the radio and called back to base. Her focus in that moment on one thing and one thing only.

"Mitchell to base, have we eyes on Red Robin?" She asked, and waited with baited breath for a response. The silence seemed to drag out for an eternity, until eventually the static sound of the radio coming to life filtered through.

"Red Robin has been located and is secure."

With that Beca released a deep breath, her family was safe. Now, she had to brace herself for the fact she might never see them again. Once the convoy pulled up to the building housing the central point of their enemy target, units had been put together and immediately shown the strategy that was put in place. Everyone huddled together waiting for the signal to move in. Beca stayed seated in the convoy, taking a moment to herself to prepare for what was ahead.

It was in that silent moment that something inside of her broke, and she knew exactly what it was, she needed to hear Chloe's voice. She had made a decision early on not to interfere with the memory she had of her family from that morning. But somehow, the closer she got to near certain danger, the more she realised, she needed to tell her wife that she loved her.

That she always loved her, that she would love her eternally from this life into the next, because to Beca, there never was, nor would there ever be, a love like Chloe. She was the love of Beca's life and she needed her wife to know that.

She needed Chloe to know that she was the best thing to ever happen to her, that she had never loved anyone like she loved her wife and daughters. That they were her reason for living, and for their wellbeing and happiness, a reason worth dying. Beca could not leave this earth without saying that, because her wife and daughters had been what made her own life worthwhile. Raising up her hand she reached inside a concealed pocket and removed a picture, the very picture that had carried her through her last tour, and in that moment she made a decision.

Putting the picture back in her pocket, Beca reached down for the radio and called base. She knew her superiors wouldn't be happy with her doing this but she didn't care. They were the reason they were in this mess, like hell she was going to miss out on the opportunity to speak to her wife one last time if she was indeed facing into her death. Flicking the radio to the channel she knew she needed, she raised the mouthpiece and spoke.

"Captain Mitchell to base, I need to speak to Red Robin," she said and waited for the static to break to indicate a response to breakthrough.

"Negative Mitchell, your squad will be engaged in active warfare in a matter of moments we don't have time," came the reply, and Beca wasn't having it, she played the one card she had that they couldn't overrule.

"I don't give a fuck about time. Once I go in that building my time may be up, now I don't give a fuck what the orders are from the White House, I wanna speak to my family or so help me God I will turn this whole convoy around and you're strategy will be worthless!"

The radio went silent for a long moment, Beca wondering whether they were silently considering it, or if they had just completely cut contact. The thought of the very army she had served so selflessly for so many years taking away her one chance to speak to her family, suddenly enraged and broke Beca in equal measures. She could feel her heart slowly shattering. She knew her threat was empty with regards to her own life because regardless of whether or not they proceeded with the mission, they would still have to fight their way back. But she had hoped they would at least grant her this one request. Just as she was losing hope, the radio crackled to life.

"Red Robin has been located, connection will be made in a moment, hang tight."

Back in Columbus, Chloe watched on as her eldest daughter played with another little girl her own age. Jesse, who she had finally encountered, sat next to the two little girls teaching them about superheroes. Aubrey was busy entertaining Charlie who was occupied petting down Poppy and squealing with delight whenever the little dogs tail would wag. The girls had settled, and with the chaos they were surrounded by, it was a blessing in Chloe's eyes. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a soldier approaching her and coming to a stop in front of her.

"Mrs. Mitchell, could you come with me please. There's an urgent call you need to take," the soldier said, his arms behind his back, chest puffed out. Chloe wanted to ask questions, wondering what the hell could possibly be so urgent considering the situation they were in. But then a spark of hope lit up inside her and sparing a quick glance at Aubrey, her best friend gestured for her to go, she had the girls covered.

She kept pace with the soldier, her heart hammering out of her chest as her mind went into overdrive. She briefly glanced at the people she passed wondering how they were all coping with being uprooted they way they had been, but those thoughts were quickly pushed away as she was escorted into a tent and Chloe glanced around, noticing they were in some sort of makeshift command centre and suddenly she was filled with dread. Before she could ask what was going on, she was ushered into a chair in front of a radio and the soldier who seemed to be in charge picked up one of the handhelds and began to speak.

"Red Robin is here, you have five minutes Mitchell."

With those words Chloe was all but clawing the radio out of the soldiers hand and raising it to her own mouth.

"Beca...baby," she said, waiting for some sort of response, her heart beating out of her chest and tears welling up in her eyes as she waited for that connection.

"Hey Chlo," came Beca's voice from the other end of the line. In that moment, Chloe couldn't hold back the tidal wave of emotions that clawed their way to the surface and erupted like a volcano. All she could do was release the tears and let them fall.

"Baby where are you?" Chloe asked, though it was a pointless question, in the back of her mind she already knew where her wife was, she just needed to hear Beca say it so she could stop the wondering thoughts in her head. The radio crackled to life again.

"It doesn't matter where I am. Look we don't have a lot of time so I need you to listen to everything I'm about to say. Can you do that for me?" Beca asked, and Chloe sat with her head bowed, two hands grasping the radio, she released a sob before exhaling a deep breath, composing herself and responding.

"Okay, okay," She said, waiting for whatever was to come. There was a beat of silence that seemed to go on forever, but she took comfort in the fact that the military personnel around her had busied themselves elsewhere in a bid to give them a moments privacy.

"Chlo, I know I promised to always come home to you, but, I also promised that no matter what, I would always keep you and the girls safe, and that's what I need to do right now..." Beca trailed off. Chloe didn't need to see it to know that her wife was choking up, she could hear it in her voice and it made her heart break.

"I need to do something to make sure you and our daughters are safe. Now I know I never ask you to make promises, but this is really important, so I need you to promise me something right now. Can you do that for me?" She asked as the line went silent.

Chloe choked back another sob. She could hear it in Beca's tone that whatever was about to happen was dangerous and that meant potentially life threatening. The fact that her wife had gone out of her way to contact her, meant that there was a very real chance that her wife wasn't coming home this time.

And Chloe broke. They had been through so much together, survived so many tours. To think that being home would be the thing that took Beca away from her tore at her insides like sharp knives, twisting and turning in her gut. She wanted to scream at her wife, demand that she come home.

But she could tell by the actions of the soldiers around her, at the way Beca was reaching out to her, that the possibility of coming home had long passed. There was nothing Chloe could do, nothing anyone could do and she broke completely.

Tears fell from her eyes like they could never be stopped. Her worst nightmare was now her reality and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Nothing except take the last few moments she had to speak to her wife and make them count. Raising the radio, and swallowing around the lump in her throat Chloe responded with the two words her wife needed to hear.

"I promise."

In that moment Chloe felt like she had said her final goodbye without ever uttering the word and it was taking everything in her not to lose it completely. The radio crackled to life.

"Remember that week we spent at your parents lake house, just you, me and the girls? That one particular day when we went swimming in the lake and camped out under the stars? Do you remember what you said to me that night?" Beca asked, and a smile etched it's way across Chloe's face because boy did she remember.

That whole day had just been pure and utter bliss. Nothing but smiles and laughter with beautiful sunsets and shooting stars. It was so simple and pure and Chloe's heart sang with joy that day.

"I said that from that day on whenever we went to the lake house I would think of that day and smile, and remember all the good times we had there," Chloe replied and she melted when she heard the soft sigh of her wife in the other end.

"That's what I want you to do Chlo. When all this is over, I want you to take the girls to the lake house and I want you to remember all those good times, and I want you to smile like you did that day on the dock when we watched the sun set," Beca said, her voice growing thick with unshed tears.

"I want you to remember every good thing and then I want you to remember every time I held you under those stars and promised to love you unconditionally with my very last breath. Because I do, I love you Chloe, so much. You and our daughters are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I want you to remember that no matter what."

Chloe was inconsolable. She knew what Beca's words meant. Her squad was on a suicide mission, and Beca, as strong and fearless as she was, was scared. Which meant the level of confidence in them succeeding in their mission wasn't very high.

And Chloe was broken. There was nothing she could do. She wanted to storm into the middle of downtown Atlanta and haul her wife out of there but she knew that she couldn't.

Because there were two little girls who needed their parents, and while Chloe would risk her life for her wife, her daughters didn't deserve to potentially lose both of their mothers.

Chloe knew in that moment that regardless of what was happening, regardless of how much it broke her, no matter what Beca did, Chloe had to find a way to keep going for their daughters. A way to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward.

Beca was about to sacrifice her life for theirs, Chloe owed it to her wife to keep her promise and keep living no matter how much it hurt. No matter how much Chloe didn't want to without Beca. Her wife had made her promise. Now she needed to hold her end of the bargain. Against the lump in her throat, against the crushing weight in her chest, Chloe brought the radio to her lips.

"I love you Beca, more than anything! You have my heart, always, mine and our daughters. Nothing and no one will ever change that."

Before Chloe could say anything else one of the commanding officers radioed in on the conversation.

"Times up Mitchell, we need you and the squad in that building now."

Chloe's neck almost snapped when she turned her head towards the man standing just a few feet away. She couldn't believe it. They'd only just started talking, they couldn't stop now. Just as Chloe was about to say something, to protest, the radio came to life, and four simple words followed by radio silence cut through the tension.

"I love you Chloe..."

Chloe picked up the radio and called for Beca again and again, but there was no response. The line was dead and with it went Chloe's faith and any hope she may have had left in the US military and government. They were sending her wife into a suicide mission, and she could never forgive them for that. This felt like the biggest betrayal.

Beca had given her life to protecting her country and now, for the first time, she was witnessing just how little the people at the top cared for the people on the ground. Slamming the radio down Chloe ran out of the tent and once outside, she doubled over trying to catch her breath, as she choked on the tears that were overwhelming her.

She raised a hand to her chest, placing it right over her heart. She felt like she couldn't breath. Her entire world was rotating out of control and she didn't know how to slow it down or make it stop. She felt everything and nothing all at once.

"Chloe?" Came a voice a few feet away from her and just as she lost control of her legs, she fell into the arms of Ben Mitchell who held her upright as he cradled her close. He knew of the whereabouts of his daughter and as a father it scared the hell out of him. Which was why he knew he needed to do everything to keep his daughters family together.

"Sssh, it's okay, it's gonna be okay," he whispered as he stroked her hair. Wrapping his arm tightly around the redheads shoulders, he guided her back towards the rest of her family.

"C'mon, lets get you back to the girls. They need you," he said, and that was all it took for Chloe's legs to start moving again. Because she made a promise to Beca and she was going to keep it.

Hours passed by in a daze for Chloe. She couldn't really focus on anything, Jesse and Aubrey having taken it upon themselves to keep the girls entertained. They understood of course, Chloe was stuck in emotional limbo, not knowing how to feel until she knew the outcome either way.

It didn't make it easy to watch though. Aubrey couldn't bear to think of the pain her best friend was in. What pain any of the wives and husbands of their soldiers felt. That was why she felt a sense of duty to step up for Chloe and be her rock. Jesse by her side as Beca's ever loyal friend.

While they were all lost in their own quiet musings, the rumble of an engine could be heard in the distance, growing louder and louder. Until eventually it stopped and all that could be heard were the sound of doors opening and closing. Chloe remained lost in her own little world, until one word cut through her reverie.

"MAMA!"

Chloe turned then, watching as Riley ran off towards the figures walking towards them in the hot Georgian sun. It was then she broke from her daze and watched as the woman at the front of the pack dropped to her knee and cradled the little strawberry blonde girl in her arms.

Beca.

Slowly standing up, Chloe took a step, then another, and another and before she knew it, she was sprinting across the distance that separated them. Beca must have sensed her coming as the brunette released her hold on her daughter and slowly climbed back to her feet, her wife's body colliding with her own as two strong arms wrapped around her neck and gripped onto her for dear life.

Chloe stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, refusing to let go, until she felt Beca squirm slightly and wince. She pulled back, taking a step away so she could see more of her wife's body and it was then she saw what was causing discomfort.

About halfway down, near the lower region of Beca's bullet proof vest, was a hole, and when Chloe tugged it away as much as she could, she saw blood seeping through her wife's camo top in her abdomen region, the telltale signs of what looked like a bullet hole staring back at her.

"Oh my God," Chloe cried, as she tried to find some way to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. How her wife was still standing was beyond her. Beca placed a hand over the one applying pressure to her wound and cupped her other hand around the back of her wife's neck.

"Baby it's okay. The vest and the distance stopped the momentum of the bullet. It's just a flesh wound. The bullet is sitting at the surface, they can easily pull it out with a forceps," Beca said.

Chloe gazed at her with a frown, not liking it one bit that her wife was referring to a bullet hole as a flesh wound. But then she realised, to a soldier, that's exactly what it was. As long as you were still breathing and still moving, you were fine.

But to Chloe this wasn't fine. It would never be fine. Her wife had spilled enough blood for her country and for what? To spill more? How much bloodshed was needed for the people in charge to realise how wrong they were? How many lives had to be lost before they finally put their politics aside and thought of the people? Was winning, one upping the opponent and being right really more important than human life?

"It's not okay, none of this is okay, you being hurt definitely isn't okay," Chloe replied with more bite than Beca was used to, but she knew her wife wasn't directing her ire towards her. Chloe wiped at the tears on her cheeks then gazed up at her wife taking in how pale and exhausted she looked. Reaching up her hands she cupped Beca's face in her palms and stroked her cheeks with her thumbs.

"We need to get you to First Aid," Chloe managed to get out with a shaky voice, her adrenaline still running on high. Beca simply nodded and turned her head so she could press a kiss to the inside of her wife's palm. She reached up and took a hold of Chloe's hand lacing their fingers together and began to head towards their family friends.

Before they could make it to far the sound of grenades and gun fire exploded around them. Beca instantly turned around on alert, her eyes widening at the terrifying scene of a US Army tank and several military jeeps crashing through the barrier and taking out several soldiers and civilians on their path.

Before Chloe could say anything, Beca picked up their daughter and placed her in her wife's arms, dragging them towards cover where she could see Aubrey and Jesse and then making a move back towards the danger. Chloe let her daughter down and instantly grabbed a hold of her wife.

"Beca NO! Don't do this it's too dangerous!" Chloe pleaded, as Beca tried to free her arm to grip her rifle, but the redhead wasn't letting go.

"Chloe I'm a soldier, I have to do this. I need to keep everyone sa..." before she could finish, gun fire closed in and Beca was shoving Chloe out of the way into cover before taking up a crouching position next to a pillar and aiming her rifle.

Chloe watched on with baited breath as her wife took out three enemy targets without wasting a single bullet. The sight caught her by surprise. Never having seen her wife in action, she was never privy to just how skilled Beca was in combat. Now she understood the high esteem her fellow soldiers held for the brunette.

Beca wasn't just a soldier, she was a warrior. The one who held her squads composure, guided them in and out of danger, tackled every obstacle with precision and courage.

The world around them was in utter chaos, but there Beca was, caught within her own little zone, moving around and dodging danger like it was a well rehearsed dance, guiding her team into key areas and navigating them out of blind spots.

Maybe Riley had been right all along, maybe her Mama really was a superhero. Suddenly the gap that halted Chloe from completely understanding why her wife chose to fight didn't seem so wide. Watching Beca was like watching a real life superhero, the hero that held all the answers and the key to saving the day.

She finally realised that Beca was the soldier the world needed. The one that fought for what was right and just. The one that truly understood the value of human life and had the courage to make the hard decisions even if it meant breaking a little bit of her own spirit every time.

Suddenly Chloe was overwhelmed with the recognition that her wife wasn't human, she was superhuman, and Chloe couldn't help but feel like she was the luckiest woman on earth to be able to stand by Beca's side and love her unconditionally.

In the distance, Chloe could hear shouts of take cover as another bomb was lobbed in the direction of US soldiers. Just as Chloe was wondering how the compound could've been so easily infiltrated she caught sight of something from the corner of her eye.

A man, about six feet tall, sitting with what she thought was a normal American family stood up, shouting out orders in Russian and ripped off the shirt he had been wearing, revealing a bomb strapped to his torso.

They had unknowingly been hiding out with Russian Militia from the moment they stepped foot on the compound. It had all been a trap. Chloe caught a glimpse of her wife and could see the way Beca's jaw was set, her wife having come to the conclusion.

This had been part of the plan all along. Send the people running into "secure cages" and then wipe them out in one blast.

The man ran towards a truck, climbing up onto the bonnet and began to grab the attention of everyone around him. He began beating at his chest, mocking the terrified crowd watching on, fearing for their lives.

Beca sat hunched behind a tank as she glanced around assessing the situation. They couldn't risk shooting him where he stood, the explosion would be amplified by the gasoline in the truck. She signalled at nearby snipers not to take aim.

"What the hell are we gonna do?" Came the voice of Lieutenant Jeffries. Beca closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind fo everything else going on. She needed to think and face.

Glancing around again, she caught sight of something that gave her hope. The back foot of the truck was ajar. If she could get inside the truck and put it in motion she could get him at least far away enough that an explosion wouldn't cause any casualties to anyone in the compound, including her family.

From her spot, Beca could see her wife, ginger hair waving around as Chloe frantically tried to get eyes on the brunette. She could see Riley and Charlie with Aubrey, Jesse and their partners and she knew what she had to do. She didn't have any other choice. Turning towards Jeffries, she gestured for him to give her the radio pack he was carrying.

Lifting her head to gauge what was going on around her, she sent a signal to the squadron across the way to halt fire until she gave the signal and to cover her movements. They relayed it on to the net squad.

"No matter what happens, do, not, follow me! Okay!" She reiterated to her fellow soldier, and Jeffries signalled his understanding with a solemn nod of the head. He knew what she was about to do was dangerous, but he had to respect her wishes for the safety of everyone.

With one last glance back towards where her family was, Beca took a deep breath, shrugged off her pack, and then slowly manoeuvred her way towards the truck, making sure to keep out of sight of her target.

When she finally made it to the open back door of the truck, she hugged the radio pack close under one arm and then used the other to leverage herself as she slid inside the truck, careful to be as quiet as possible.

It took what felt like a lifetime to get inside the back seat of the truck, she'd had to slow down her movements several times when chants outside erupted, worried that someone might have spotted her, when she realised they were Russian militants reacting to the chants, she continued her mission.

Planted inside the truck, Beca glanced between the two seats to make sure the keys in the ignition. Bingo. Just where they had been left. Carefully climbing into the drivers seats, Beca kept low so as not to be seen through the windscreen.

Then, she waited. She waited for the inevitable chant of the militants who had infiltrated the compound, the ones who had resigned terror down on her homeland, on her family. She waited, and waited and then...

Roaring the engine to life, Beca slammed the truck into gear and jammed on the accelerator, forever grateful her dad had to taught her to drive stick all those years ago. She watched as the momentum knocked the terrorist off his feet and into the windscreen, the man bracing himself on the roof, trying to hold on.

Beca kept driving, the noise of gunshots chasing her down. When she felt like she was far enough away, she grabbed the radio with one hand and lowered it to the floor by her feet. Just then, her eyes landed on his and she could see the anger in his eyes, his hand lowering the button on his chest connected to the bomb.

"Fuck You!" Beca shouted as she slammed the radio on the accelerator and reached for the door handle.

Jesse held Chloe back as the truck veered off out of the compound, Beca still inside. She tried to free herself from Jesse's grasp only to have the fight knocked out of her by an explosion mere seconds later. The sound stopped everyone in their tracks, watching as fire and smoke bellowed into the sky.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Chloe collapsed into a heap on the ground, her heartbroken sobs echoing throughout the compound. Riley's tear stained face watched her mother cry as she reminds latched onto Aubrey, not understanding what was wrong.

Someowhere out of the smoke, a figure could be seen feet dragging beneath them as they made their way back to the compound. Chloe's tears stopped as she looked up, eyes watching intently, looking for any indication that it was Beca.

Once the silhouette got a little closer, her heart began to hammer in her chest, she would know that silhouette from anywhere, the gait of the walk, even if it was a little unsteady. Hoisting herself up along Jesse's arms, she stood up and watched the movements around her.

Gunfire had broken out again, the militants trying to enact their revenge and US soldiers trying to eliminate those that were left. Several militants and soldiers fell to the ground, the shooting getting more intense as soldiers created a barricade in front of civilians.

In the distance, Beca watched as the militants tried to create gaps in the human barricade that was keeping her family safe and she saw red. With what little energy she had left, she ran for the compound, stopping down and picking up a discarded rifle on her way began to shoot, reigning down bullets on any enemy in sight.

She released the empty clip and picked up another rifle off the ground, continuing her assault as she closed in on the hot zone, the area with the most action, her reappearance drawing out militants looking for blood.

One militant Came charging at her and she pulled on the trigger, the bullet clipping him in the neck as he fell to the ground. After one more round of gunfire, the compound fell silent. The remaining soldiers stood around assessing the area, snipers above ground gazing around for any surprises.

When they realised that there was none to be found, cheers erupted, they had won. Families hugged, soldiers patted one another on the back and then took a knee to silently remember their fellow soldiers who had fallen in the action.

Beca gazed across the distance at her wife, a smile slipping onto her face as she saw the relieved tears of Chloe's face. She took a step and began to move forward to bridge the distance between them, but as she moved she watched as Jesses face changed and the sound of his face screaming for her to move.

Behind her one of the bodies began to rise from the ground, the hand holding a rifle taking aim at Beca, two gunshots ringing out, before a third and forth laid him out permanently.

Beca didn't feel the initial impact, she just saw the faces of her loved ones drop in terror. Then she saw the blood eject from her body into the air as a bullet pierced through her chest and the power leave her legs as another lodged itself in her back.

Collapsing onto her knees, Beca coughed when the metallic taste of liquid rose up her throat, clogging up her air way, and then, she fell flat to the ground

"BECA!" Chloe screamed as burst past Jesse and ran across the compound, dropping to her knees next to her wife. Beca's unfocused eyes eventually settled on the red halo above her.

"Ch-chlo," She wheezed as another cough escaped her.

The redhead sobbed as blood poured from her wife's chest and when she gazed down, she could see more pooling beneath her back leaving a trail. Placing her two hands over her wife's chest, Chloe pressed her lips to Beca's pale forehead.

"It's okay, it's gonna be okay," She soothed. Keeping one hand pressed firmly over the bullet hole, Chloe lifted her free hand stroked her wife's face.

"I love you so much. I'm so proud of you," she said as tears fell down her cheeks. Beca's eyes welled up, her body beginning to remove from the shock.

"I'm sor- I'm sorry," Beca cried, teeth chattering and lips turning blue as she fought against the pull the close her eyes, leaning into Chloe's touch.

"I'm s-so c-c-cold."

Chloe sobbed at this. It was bad sign, Beca's body was shutting down, she needed urgent medical help and she didn't know how long her wife could hold on. Leaning down she pressed their noses together and nudged Beca's with her own.

"You stay with me Mitchell. We're gonna get you help and then you, me and the girls are gonna go to the lake house and leave all of this behind us. And we're gonna make so many more happy memories, you hear me!"

Beca simply nodded, her eyes dropping closed as a medic team came rushing in. She squeezed Chloe's hand one last time, her lips uttering three more words before the world around her fell silent.

"I love you..."


	19. Keep Holding On

"It shouldn't be like this," Jesse sighed as he watched all the mourners line up to offer up their condolences to the family, a wave of black as far as they eye could see, a folded flag being placed in the arms of a distraught widow who cradled it like a lifeline.

"No it shouldn't. But nothing and no one can change what happened. That day, it's gonna live on forever and for all the wrong reasons and it sucks, but we need to suck it up and keep it together because Chloe and the girls need us," Aubrey replied, her gaze focused straight ahead.

It had been two weeks since the terrorist attacks that reigned terror across the US and the country was only just getting back on its feet. Countless bodies had been buried, families mourning their losses every day.

It seemed like a never ending cycle, one that nobody wanted to be on. Chloe had spent the last two weeks in an almost catatonic state, close family and friends doing everything they could to help out with the girls. But it wasn't enough, it would never be enough.

Aubrey had jumped into organisation mode, working with Chloe's mother to prepare meals, do laundry, all of the things Chloe couldn't bear to think about. Jesse had taken to doing odd DIY jobs around the Mitchell house to occupy his mind.

If they couldn't fix things then they would just have to keep busy and keep putting one foot in front of the other. It was hard, some days harder than others, but they couldn't keep living with their heads buried in the sand.

Their lives had been turned upside down and now they had to find a way to pick up the pieces. It would take time and a lot of healing but they hoped and prayed that time would come sooner rather than later because they couldn't keep living with a black cloud hanging over them.

Aubrey was the first to notice Chloe approaching, her eyes red rimmed from crying so much. She instantly reached out a hand and laced it with her best friends hoping to offer some form of comfort.

"Hey, are you okay? Do you want to leave?" Aubrey asked, already eyeing up her husband Daniel who was hovering nearby. Chloe nodded as she swallowed down the urge to keep crying. She raised up a hand and wiped at her face to rid of the remaining tears.

"Yeah," she choked out, hating how fragile her voice sounded, "can you take me to the hospital?" She asked, and Aubrey instantly nodded her head, wrapping an arm around the redhead and guiding her back towards the car.

Jesse watched them go, waiting until they were in the car before turning his head back in the direction of the grieving family by the graveside still accepting condolences.

"Rest in peace," he whispered under his breath acknowledging the fallen soldier and brother from Beca's squadron before putting on his sunglasses and leaving the cemetery with his fiancée by his side.

Aubrey and Daniel had dropped Chloe off at the house to change, the redhead clearly not comfortable in the all black ensemble. It had taken here only handful of minutes to change into a more comfortable jeans and plaid shirt combo, one of Beca's, and with that she was rushing out the door to get back to the place she really wanted to be.

It had been her fathers suggestion that Chloe attend the funeral on Beca's behalf, knowing how much the brunette cared for her fellow soldiers. Chloe had been reluctant, refusing to acknowledge yet another life that had been taken, but after hearing from her wife's father she knew she had to.

If Beca could, she would've gone. She would've shown up in her army dress to farewell her fallen brother, to grieve the loss with his family. But she couldn't, and Chloe felt it her duty to go in Beca's place, with Aubrey and Jesse for support.

But it had been hard, too hard. Chloe had wanted to duck in and out without being noticed however pitying gazes still found her in the crowd and she hated it. She didn't want them, didn't need them. Because it wasn't Beca that was in the ground, their sympathies weren't needed.

Once they reached the hospital, Chloe's feet moved on auto pilot, guiding her exactly where she needed to be, where she wanted to be. She reminded silent all the way up in the elevator and down the long corridor all the way past the double doors.

She spared a quick glance at the various family and friends dotted around the family lounge before walking straight past them and into the second room on the left. There just inside the door, lay her wife.

Beca's mother sat next to the bed but all Chloe could see was the small, fragile figure of the women she loved buried beneath a mass of wires and tubes. All she could hear was the rhythmic sound of the ventilator pumping oxygen into Beca's broken body, willing her to life.

Even now, two weeks after the event, Chloe could still feel the warm wet feeling of Beca's blood against her skin. When they had first arrived at the hospital, she had been so caught up in her wife, in the shock of everything going on, that the blood that had covered her hands had dried and stained them a reddish hue.

It had taken hours of coaxing from Chloe's mother to get her to wash it off and change her clothes, to rid of the blood that seemed to cover every inch of her. When Chloe had finally conceded, and with permission from the hospital staff to use staff changing rooms and showers, she excused herself from her family and friends.

In the quiet of the empty room, she finally acknowledged her wife's blood that had stained her clothes, her skin. The very blood that flowed so effortlessly out of Beca, sucking the life out of her. In that moment she ripped the clothes from her body and buried them at the bottom of a trash can in the corner of the room.

She washed her skin until it was almost rubbed raw, scalding from the hot water she had used to cleanse herself of the trauma. Then she cried. She cried for the fallen soldiers, she cried for everyone who had ever had to live through such horror and she cried for her wife.

She cried so much she thought she would never stop. Until 14 hours later, when Beca was taken to the ICU and then, Chloe lost all ability to function like a human person. She took a seat by her wife's bed, cradled her hand to her heart and remained there, unmoving for hours, days even.

The doctors had fired off a load of medical jargon at Chloe that made no sense, they may as well have been talking in riddles. It wasn't until Mr. Mitchell, in a moment of emotional exhaustion, shouted at the man to explain in layman's terms what he was talking about.

It was then the doctor bowed his head, glancing back up with a solemn expression, explaining the reality of the situation in the most basic of terms. Beca was lucky to be alive, but they didn't know if she would make it.

The bullet to the chest had penetrated Beca's chest cavity and her heart, leaving a path of destruction that left the muscle almost completely useless. They had patched it up enough to keep it pumping, but they couldn't be sure that the repair job would hold out. Her heart was too weak and there had been suggestions that a transplant may be needed.

To make matters worse, the bullet that had lodged its self in her lower back had shattered two of her vertebra and caused nerve damage that may prove irreversible. Even if Beca came around, even if her heart were to hold up, she may face living the rest of her life in a wheelchair.

The news had knocked Chloe's world completely off its axis. When would Beca catch a break? Her wife had given up so much, dedicated her life to serve and protect and all she ever seemed to get in return was one knock down after another.

After Beca's second tour, Chloe had lost count of the scars that marred her wife's body. Reminders of what their family had been through every time Beca picked up a rifle to serve.

Sure, Beca had medals that spoke of her heroic actions, of the sacrifices she had made to ensure the safety of her family, the safety of an entire nation. But nothing would ever compensate for what she had lost. Friends, comrades, time away from her family, a normal life.

Beca would simply say she was doing her duty as a wife, as a mother. But this was more than that, way more, and Chloe Mitchell would never forget that for as long as she lived. She would never forget the sacrifices that had been made, nor would she allow anyone else to.

As far as Chloe was concerned, there was no reward great enough for her wife. The only thing she could ask for, was for Beca to come away from it all with her life. To wake up and recover, to finally have that time to be a wife and a mother and not have to worry whether or not another tour was imminent.

To live a peaceful life, create more precious memories with their daughters out at the lake house. Create more magical memories as wives and lovers. That's all Chloe wanted out of all this. She didn't care if Beca never walked again or if more surgeries were to come down the line.

All she cared about, was Beca waking up, to just give them hope that there would be a tomorrow and that Chloe and their daughters wouldn't have to live through the pain of having to say goodbye for good. Was that really too much to ask?

Moving across the room, Mrs. Mitchell gave Chloe a warm tired smile as she stood up to vacate the seat she had been sitting in. Chloe smiled back the same smile, though it came out a little more forced. She walked around the bed and stepped up to the edge of it, slipping her hand into her wife's that lay unmoving on the bed.

"I'm back Bec's," Chloe whispered, as she leaned down and pressed her lips to her wife's cheek, careful of the breathing tube that was taped down into place. She stroked brown hair that had grown slightly matted having not been washed in a day or two.

Chloe couldn't help but gaze upon the pale face of the woman she loved, drained completely of any signs of life. This wasn't the Beca she knew, the Beca she had fallen in love with. Her wife's facial expressions had always been much warmer, always carrying a smile for the people she loved or a cheeky side grin when she was up to something, a trait Charlie had inherited.

But this, it was like gazing down at a blank canvas. There was nothing there, not even the hint of a smile or a frown. It hurt more than Chloe would've thought possible. Her eyes roamed over the beaten body on the bed.

Beca's hospital gown was askew to compensate for the wires and monitors she was hooked up to. Chloe could see the telltale signs of the white bandaging that was covering her wife's chest creeping up past the neck of the blue material.

She couldn't count how many wires were actually attached to Beca, but the first time she had seen them the wind had been knocked right out of her. It looked like some messed up science experiment. How one person could be so dependent on so many machines just to live, it was shocking to say the least.

There were heart monitors, various IV's, blood pressure cuffs, feeding tubes, tubes removing waste from Beca's body, blood transfusions, morphine drips, on and on they went. There was also a wedge keeping Beca turned slightly on her side so as not to put pressure on her lower back wound.

Chloe had been terrified to even touch Beca the first time she laid eyes on her. She was afraid of disrupting something or accidentally tugging a wire. It took some gentle coaching from a nurse to navigate the minefield that was Beca's battered and beaten body.

After two weeks, she was much more comfortable, but that didn't make things any easier for Chloe. She didn't know how much longer she could spend waiting for any signs of life, an indication that Beca was coming back to her.

But Chloe knew in her heart, that it didn't really matter how long it took in the end, as long as her wife woke up that was all that counted. Until then she would wait, impatiently at times, but she would wait nonetheless. Because Beca needed her, and she was going to make damn well sure she was there.

Chloe took a seat in the now vacated chair, resting comfortably on the edge so that she could lean her arms on Beca's bed and cradle her hand. In that moment she felt a another hand rest gently on her shoulder and knew Beca's mother was standing behind her.

"It's funny, at times you can almost fool yourself into believing she's just sleeping. She looks so peaceful," Mrs. Mitchell sighed, her hand squeezing Chloe's shoulder comfortingly.

The redhead glanced up at her wife's face and choked back the tears that threatened to bubble to the surface. Because Chloe couldn't see it, she couldn't see that peaceful expression everyone else saw. All she could see was the mental image of Beca in pain, apologising for breaking her promise to always come home to Chloe and the girls.

The expression of a women who had achieved so much but ultimately felt like a failure because she thought she had broken the one promise she had told herself she would never break. That was all Chloe could see and it haunted her, the pain, the longing to make things right, it all overshadowed whatever peaceful image everybody else seemed to have.

"I'm gonna go grab a coffee to keep my eyes open. You want anything?" Chloe simply shook her hear indicating that she was fine.

Truth be told she just didn't want to have to leave the room. Food and drink were not permitted in the ICU for health and safety reasons which was why Chloe rarely accepted offers of either, because it meant being away from her wife.

The only times she so much as acknowledged the outside world was when it related to her daughters. Her eldest brother and his wife had more or less taken on the responsibility of caring for the girls since their own kids were old enough not to need constant attention.

It meant that Chloe's parents could be there to support their youngest child and only daughter, and more importantly to support Beca. Peter Beale, being the eldest of his siblings, always had a particular soft spot for his little sister.

He was the stereotypical older always looking out for her and threatening any guys or girls that came around to try and woo Chloe. It was almost always harmless, but he could remember the first time he met Beca Mitchell.

There was something in the way Chloe smiled a little bigger, carried herself with a carefree ease that had told him from day one, Beca Mitchell was the one for Chloe. The one he could count on to take care of his baby sister.

He respected Beca, as a person and as a soldier. She had proven time and again she would do anything for her family and that to Peter, was the mark of a great life partner. In all honesty, over time, he had grown to think of Beca as more than just a sister-in-law, but as a best friend.

She wasn't like the other in-laws, not that there was anything wrong with any of the other women who had married into the family, but none had ever caused as much of a stir, had made such an impact quite the way Beca Mitchell did.

From helping Peter and his brothers fix up the motor on an old Mustang they had pulled from a scrap yard as a fixer upper pet project, to teaching the other Beale women some useful self defence tactics to give them the upper hand, Beca was the every woman.

Peter once described her as the human Swiss Army Knife, because she seemed to have something in her arsenal at all times to help someone out or engage them in some way or another.

That was why the reality of Beca's situation was hitting everyone so hard. The woman had weaved herself so effortless into the fabric of all their lives, the thought of her not being around was unfathomable.

That was why Peter, and his brothers, had stepped up in Beca's time of need. The soldier had always been there for their family, had stood on the frontlines of war to keep them safe. The least they could do was share the responsibility of taking care of their sister and their nieces.

If anything, at times they felt like what they were doing wasn't enough. Beca, and many others had paid the ultimate price for the protection of everyone else. They deserved so much more than what anyone was capable of giving.

A knock at the door sounded and Chloe glanced up briefly to see Meredith Beale stepping over the the threshold and into the room. The older woman gazed down at her daughter in law, heart breaking at what she saw, and then she turned to Chloe.

"Peter called, he's gonna take Riley and Charlie out to the lake house for a couple of days. He thinks it might be good for them to get out of the city and away from everything going on."

Chloe merely nodded her head, too tired to argue. She would prefer to have her daughters close by after everything that had happened, but she knew deep down her brother would keep them safe.

She also knew that it wasn't fair the lack of attention she had been giving them. Not that she was complacent, far from it. She still made sure they were washed, clothed and fed every day, still did all her motherly tasks and cared for their overall well-being, but attention to other tasks had slipped.

She didn't read stories with Charlie, or colour in with Riley, didn't sing songs to them or engage in general playful behaviour, she just didn't have it in her. She couldn't bring herself to laugh when her heart wanted to break in two.

She couldn't bring herself to sing when every song reminded her of singing with her wife in the car. Couldn't bring herself to help Riley with one of her art works because every drawing was a drawing of Beca wearing a cape and fighting off the bad guys.

She just couldn't bring herself to be the mother Riley and Charlie were used to having around. She looked like their mommy, talked like their mommy, but she didn't smile like their mommy. She wasn't buzzing with the same energy they had grown accustomed to.

Chloe had always been a ray of sunshine when it came to her daughters, even when Beca was away she would keep up that enthusiasm and optimism. But after everything she had seen, everything she had witnessed, she couldn't bring herself to be optimistic.

The world she thought she knew had collapsed and had taken Beca with it, or at least tried to. For now her wife was still fighting, still hanging on, barely at times, but enough for Chloe not to give up on her. Not that she ever would. She would fight tooth and nail to make sure no one ever would.

But what she had seen had been enough to taint how Chloe saw the world. She was always a glass half full kind of girl, always looked for the rainbow at the end of the storm, the silver lining in every cloud, the light at the end of a tunnel. At times she wondered if she would ever look the world the same way again, or if she would be forever bitter over the events that had turned her life upside down.

She didn't trust her government, didn't know if she could trust her neighbours and it made her sick to her stomach. Every deployment her family had lived through had been for nothing if this was what the future was heading towards.

No matter how much she tried, Chloe knew that they would never be able to go back to their old lives. Too much had happened, too much damage had been done. The only thing they could do now, was hold out hope for Beca and that one day they would be able to rebuild and start a new life, one that left the horrors of what had happened firmly in the past.

"She has to wake up Mom. I c-can't do this without her. I can't," Chloe croaked out, her breath catching in her throat as a sob threatened to escape, hands gripping firmly to Beca's that was nestled between her own. Merediths heart shattered in two as she watched her youngest child come undone right before her eyes.

She crossed the room and rounded the bed, wrapping her daughter up in a hug. Meredith wasn't sure how much longer she could take seeing her daughter so lost and distraught, but what she did know was that no amount of prayers seemed to be working. They were fully at the mercy of the unknown and it scared the hell out of everyone.

Later that evening, Chloe sat by Beca's bed as the nurses bathed her, careful not to disturb any wires as they worked. It hurt her to see the new collection of scars that adorned her wife's body. More "medals" of war.

Chloe used to look upon them this way, reminders of her wife's bravery and the pride Chloe held for her. But now, they were just painful reminders of what she could lose.

Every time she saw the badgers, she could remember vividly, the image of her wife's body as it sunk to the ground, crimson gushing from the holes that had been pierced through her body by US bullets.

That was the real cruel irony in everything that had happened. The fact that the weaponry used by the terrorists had actually been sold to them by US arms manufacturers. But these weren't just any bullets. They were bullets created with the specific intention of being able to take a life.

For years, the US had been working on a new prototype, a bullet that was more fierce, more destructive than the ammunition the army had been using before. These bullets were designed to cut through bullet proof armour in a way bullets couldn't before.

They were created to stop enemies dead in their tracks. But greed had always been the US governments biggest downfall. They saw a dollar to be made, billions in fact, and they sold them, quite literally into the hands of their enemies, not once thinking about the consequences of their actions.

Those same bullets, had pierced through Beca's armour and right through her body, leaving a path of destruction in their wake. The doctors had spoken to Chloe in length about the many possible outcomes facing her wife. Death being the one that was pushed the furthest out of her mind.

Her heart was damaged, the muscle weakened to a state that may not hold up long term. Chloe had accepted the fact the Beca may need multiple operations down the road, even a transplant was a possibility. She had accepted the fact that Beca may never walk again, or at best would have a stunted walk or limited mobility.

All of those things didn't even phase Chloe, not in the slightest. Because at least in all of those scenarios, Beca was alive. As long as she got her wife back she didn't care about the consequences. They would overcome them, like they had overcome Beca's PTSD.

Chloe just needed her wife to wake up. Everything would be okay if Beca just opened her eyes because then they could move forward, they could start to heal. It would be a long and difficult road but it would be worth it if it meant her family was whole again.

Once the nurses had left the room, Chloe took her seat back next to Beca her eyes glancing over her wife's pale face for any signs of life, but there was still nothing. Just the same rhythmic rise and fall of her chest as the machine pumped oxygen into her body.

Reaching up a hand she caressed it through brown locks of hair, her mind drumming up images of the countless times they had woken up after a night of passion, the sun streaming through the window and the world outside waiting for the day to begin.

But they just lay there, content in one another's company, naked bodies flush against one another and hands gently stroking any inch of skin or hair they could find, anything just to be close.

It made Chloe's heart ache. In those moments they felt like nothing in the world could hurt them, they were just Beca and Chloe, invincible. But that was the thing about being wrapped in a bubble, it wasn't real. The real world still existed beyond it and Chloe was tired of fearing it.

She had spent so many years living in some state of fear or anxiety, just waiting for Beca to come home. Waiting for that moment when it would all be over and her wife would be done with the army for good and they could start the rest of their lives.

But it wasn't to be. The world needed a hero, and Beca needed to put that cape on one last time and answer the call. Chloe could feel nothing but pride when she thought of her wife's bravery. No matter how much it hurt that was one thing that could never be dampened by what had happened.

Beca Mitchell had put her life on the line, for the safety of countless hundreds, literally drove a ticking time bomb away from the many lives that could've been lost, and not once did she waver in her courage.

Now, when Chloe looked around, she wondered where all the people were to help put Beca back together again. Sure she had her friends, her family, but where was the government? Where the officials who claimed it was their duty to "serve the people"?

They buy and sell oil, dig up ground that is costly to the environment for the sake of a dollar, give tax breaks and incentives to giant corporations to send the stock markets soaring so they can pat themselves on the back and point to figures that show what a good job they were doing.

But where were they when it mattered? Where were they when a soldier who had lost their leg needed someone to lean on as they learned to walk again on a prosthetic limb? Where were they when a soldier was on the brink of taking their own life because they felt the didn't have anyone to talk to that could relate?

Where were they when one by one bodies were lowered into the ground as families and friends stood around and mourned for the life of a loved one they would never see again? They were great at showing up for ceremonial duties and photo ops, once the curtains closed and the eyes of the world were no longer on them where were they?

Not a single White House representative had approached the hospital to ask if there was anything they could do to help. But yet every time Chloe turned on the news she could see one face after another talking about what a tragedy the country had faced and how they were going to rebuild and come back stronger than ever.

It was laughable and it infuriated Chloe to no end. Rebuilding an infrastructure wouldn't solve her wife's medical problems. It wouldn't make Beca wake up any quicker. All it would do is give people a reason to move on and forget about the people that had been left behind.

The old saying out of sight, out of mind. Keep them in hospitals and rehabilitation centres where they can't be seen. Throw on a US flag pin on Veterans Day to show that you care then shove it back in a box when it's over.

Chloe wasn't one for flag waving. Much like Beca she didn't buy into the mentality of blind patriotism, that everything was for the flag and people should live and die for their country. It was a ridiculously outdate idea stemming from a time when countries were colonised and forced to adhere to the culture and language of the empires that had enslaved them.

But when all the context was taken away, when national pride was pushed aside to see these objects for what they were it didn't make sense to Chloe. The flag was just a flag, the anthem was just an anthem. They may be symbols that distinguish one country from another but they were by no means a reason to give up your life.

Chloe was proud of where she came from sure, just like the Irish were proud to be Irish, the Aussies were proud to be Aussies. But she wasn't so patriotic as to believe her country was better or that the way of life she was accustomed to was somehow of greater significance.

That was the issue, people put so much faith and loyalty into a piece of cloth that sat on a flagpole and for what? So they could stand on the sidelines of another war, another tragedy and say 'ha ha we're better than you'. It was all so juvenile and petty.

Chloe didn't want a flag to define her any more than she wanted her accent, her skin colour or the culture she was raised on to define her. She wanted to be seen as a person. Sure those things may have helped shape her but there were times when they also helped stifle her.

There was a time when her rights would have been denied simply for being gay, at times still were. There were times when Chloe actually couldn't stand behind the decisions her country, her homeland had made. See it was easy to be patriotic, to follow blindly when the path is laid out specifically for you.

But when you've lived with prejudice, faced injustice, been looked upon as somehow inferior, it wasn't so easy to look at the Stars and Stripes and see a country that was fair and just. A country that was somehow mightier than the rest. A country that claimed to represent everyone.

Because at the end of the day, how do you stand for something that doesn't stand for you? Yet somehow, through all of it, Beca had seen enough good to find something worth fighting for, worth enlisting for.

" _I don't want to sit on the sidelines Chloe. I've seen the other side because of my parents, I know what's at stake, I can't just be a bystander. I need to do something, I need to be part of the movement that allows for change."_

Chloe could still vividly remember those words leaving Beca's lips back at Barden when the brunette had first told her about enlisting. Chloe had been so angry at first, she couldn't believe her then girlfriend would put herself in that kind of danger.

But the more Beca talked, the more she revealed to Chloe, the more the redhead realised that the younger girls thoughts and feelings on the matter were coming from a far more noble place.

Beca was sick of living in a world that still fought back against change or anything that was deemed inappropriate or unacceptable. Sick of being allowed to take one step forward just to take ten steps back. Sick of being treated like a second class citizen because her heart and soul told her that she was in love with and attracted to another woman.

Beca had served in so many tours, had lived every day just trying to do her best by everyone, whether it was her family or a stranger on the street and not once did she ever ask for anything in return. But Chloe was.

Chloe was asking for a chance for her wife to be rewarded with the life she deserved. One free of sacrifice and difficult choices, one that afforded Beca peace for once. Where she could just heal and be with her family and not have to worry about anything else.

Chloe wanted Beca to live, and that word held double meaning within the context they were in. Chloe was sick of watching her wife give, give, give and get nothing in return.

Gazing over her wife's pale face Chloe hugged Beca's hand to her chest and stayed that way, eyes never leaving her. The she lifted it and placed a kiss against it, gently stroking it as the silence of the room consumed them.

"You know, the day we got married, my dad came into my bridal room before the ceremony and he asked me if I was sure I wanted to get married," Chloe chuckled, as a tear slipped down her cheek.

"He didn't doubt what I wanted he just felt obligated to ask, said it was his duty as my dad. And I looked at him, and I told him that the only thing I've ever been sure if in my entire life is you Bec's."

Chloe lifted her hand and wiped at the tears that continued to fall, a sparkle in her eye as she thought about that day, the day she became Chloe Mitchell. The proudest day of her life next to the birth of her daughters.

"You're the one thing that I've never doubted. From the moment we met I knew I was with someone who would keep me safe, love me unconditionally, treat me like I was the most important thing in the world. The day I met you I met my soulmate and I don't wanna lose that. I don't wanna lose you."

Chloe bowed her head, overcome with emotion, pressing her forehead against the hand she was holding, hoping for the strength to keep going.

"I love you so much, please come back to me," she pleaded.

All that could be heard in the silence of the ICU, were the heartbreaking sobs of a wife and mother on the brink of despair. When suddenly, a gentle squeeze of a hand pulled Chloe from her internal turmoil.

Lifting her head, Chloe stared intensely at the hand she was holding, hoping beyond hope that her mind wasn't playing tricks on her.

"Bec's," she whispered, and then, she felt it, the weak squeeze of a hand. Chloe's eyes darted up to her wife's face to find hooded navy eyes gazing back at her.

"Beca..."


	20. A New Journey Begins

Beca's eyes had only been open for a mere moment when Chloe was being ushered out of the room by countless nurses and the doctor as they swarmed around the bed ridden soldier, checking vitals and assessing injuries.

Chloe could do nothing but stand outside the glass window and watch on, a hand in front of her mouth trying to hold back the sob threatening to escape. After two weeks of nothing, suddenly everything was hectic.

It had only been a matter of moments but Chloe was already anxious to get back to Beca's bedside. As she stood gazing in through the window, Aubrey and Meredith appeared through the double doors, both women rushing to Chloe's side upon seeing the tears.

"Chloe sweethearts, what's wrong? Has something happened?" Meredith asked, taking her daughter into her arms. Chloe briefly glanced toward her mother and best friend before turning her attention back into the room.

"Beca, sh-she's awake. She woke up," she replied as she removed herself from her mother's embrace and turned back to the window, hands pressed against the glass, desperate to be back in the room.

All three women watch on as the doctor and team of nurses worked on making Beca comfortable. The breathing tube had been removed and replaced with an oxygen mask, everything else remained in place.

The nurses worked in tandem to carefully shift Beca on to her other side, placing the wedge where it needed to be. They were conscious of bed sores and without fully knowing the status of Beca's mobility they needed to be extra cautious of the possibility of the soldier being bed ridden for a quite a long period of time.

From inside the room, the doctor placed his stethoscope around his neck and began making his way to the door, pushing it open and stepping outside where the three waiting women were.

"She's asking for you," he said, his gaze fixed on Chloe and the redhead didn't waste a second as she bolted through the doors and made her way inside.

Her momentum stopped once she neared the bed, the nurses still working away until she heard something being mumbled, a nurse leaning down to hear Beca before turning her attention to Chloe and gesturing for her to approach.

"She's calling for you," the nurse said, gesturing for Chloe to approach and stepping out of the way once the redhead was close enough.

Chloe gazed down at the pale face of her wife. Beca's eyes were struggling to stay open and she could tell from the crease between her wife's eyebrows that Beca was worrying about something, more than likely it was about her and the girls.

"I'm here baby," Chloe called out as she leaned down, grasping her wife's hand and tugging it to her chest, her free hand gently stroking the crease and easing the frown from her wife's face.

"G-Girls," Beca slurred, her speech a clear indication of the power of the drugs she was on. Tears escaped Chloe's eyes, because of course her wife would be worried about everyone else when she was the one in a hospital bed.

"The girls are fine. They're with my brother out at the lake house. Everyone's okay. Our family, our friends, they're all here, thanks to you."

Leaning down Chloe pressed her lips to Beca's forehead and lingered there, trying desperately to reel in her tears and failing miserably. She stroked her wife's hair as she leaned back, just enough so that she could gaze deep into Beca's eyes.

At the sight of the tears that pooled in Chloe's eyes, leaving tear tracks down her cheeks, Beca frowned again and with what little energy she could muster, moved her hand, that was still being clutched in wife's embrace and navigated it towards Chloe's face.

"N-no, cr-crying," Beca managed to rasp out between laboured breaths. Chloe tilted her head to the side and leaned into their joined hands choking down the sob in the back of her throat.

"I was so scared," she cried as she wiped at the falling tears that left a glistening trail along her cheeks, "I thought I was gonna lose you."

The fear that had gripped Chloe the last two weeks, had been the most suffocating, painful experience of her life. Not knowing whether Beca would make it gripping at her her heart, stoping her ability to feel.

While seeing Beca awake had lifted a huge weight, there was still the underlying fear that her wife wasn't out of the woods. As long as she was in the ICU things could go wrong and Beca's injuries were far from being minor.

With what little energy she had, and mustering up all the effort and strength she could, Beca raised up the hand that had been resting on the bed and delicately stroked Chloe's cheek.

"P-promise," came her muffled reply. To anyone else the soldiers response wouldn't have made much sense but to Chloe it meant the world.

Beca had kept her promise, even though she thought she wouldn't be able to, she had and in doing so, had saved so many lives and protected her family at all costs.

Through the biggest of hurdles, the greatest adversity, somehow, with a strength unrivalled, Beca Mitchell was yet again defying the odds.

She never should've woken up. Never should've made it to the hospital. Never should've made it off the ground where she had fallen, shot down in an act so volatile, her life should've ended in that moment.

That was the consensus from the medical professionals and the general public. But Beca never was one to give up, no matter the obstacle. It was one of the things that made Chloe fall so hopelessly in love with her.

Because Beca fought for their relationship. Even though they had only been together for a year when Beca signed up to the military, even though Chloe had her doubts initially because of their age and the distance, Beca never gave up on them.

Chloe would often return home to her apartment after studying for hours to complete assignments while working towards her masters to find little gifts from her then girlfriend.

Just little things to keep her motivated or to make her smile by conjuring up a memory. Beca's willingness to fight against the odds had been what instilled in Chloe the importance of fighting for what means the most.

Ever since then Chloe always fought just as hard for their relationship and that was what made their love so strong. Because they never gave up on one another no matter the odds.

Yet again Beca was proving just what Chloe had known all along, that her wife would never give up, no matter how high the odds were stacked against them.

Leaning down, Chloe rested her forehead against Beca's, her eyes closed to fight back the onslaught of tears and just breathed in the scent of her wife that she could still somehow recognise beneath the layers of surgical antiseptics and bandaging.

"I love you so much. And I am SO proud of the women you are," Chloe whispered, pressing a kiss to her wife's bruised temple that had taken a hit in combat. Beca simply closed her eyes inhaled a deep breath, or as deep as she could without causing herself pain and discomfort.

Beca didn't feel particularly proud in her actions. She never believed in what the government considered to be genuine warfare. Many of the decisions over the last few years had seemed self serving, unlike the tours Beca had first served in back in her early military career.

The truth was, the US should have never been in that position, they never should have been put in a situation with Russia that could've resulted in such terrible attacks but that was exactly what had happened.

Beca and countless other soldiers had been forced into a conflict that had taken so many lives, and she couldn't see what the value in that fight had been for. Beca may have saved many lives with her actions, but if she were being completely honest with herself, her only intention had been to save her family.

Her wife and daughters were everything to her. Upon returning from the suicide mission her squad had been sent on, Beca had lost all faith in her reasons for serving. She had given up so much blood, sweat and tears for her country, to be reduced to nothing more than an expendable playing piece in someone else's game.

She didn't feel proud, she felt sick and ashamed. All she wanted to do was help shape a landscape that she could be proud of, that her daughters could be proud of. But all she felt was bitter disappointment and that feeling hurt her more than she thought it would.

When she thought of all the sacrifices she had made, the outcome just didn't seem worth it. For the first time in her life, Beca felt no connection to the soldier within her. If anything, it finally put to rest any notions she had of remaining a soldier.

Captain Beca Mitchell was done. Done with the Army, done with the conflict, done with all of it. She had given up so much, and almost gave up her life, but not anymore.

Her heart hurt too much, literally and figuratively. As much as she loved her fellow brothers and sisters in the military, they would never compete with the three great loves of her life. She was done allowing her wife and daughters come second to that.

Regardless of Beca's reasons for fighting in the past, no matter how noble they may have been, no matter how much she tried to console herself with the idea that she was protecting her friends and family, none of it matter anymore.

Somehow, by the grace of God, Beca was lying in that bed, her wife next to her tenderly caressing her cheek making declarations of love, and in that moment, Beca saw all the reason she needed to leave the soldier behind.

From that point on Beca would only move forward, with Chloe, Riley and Charlie. That was more than enough for her. She no longer needed to feel like she was serving a purpose, because she had served it tenfold. Her only purpose now, was to be a wife, a mother, a daughter and a friend, and to somehow find the strength to battle the uphill climb to recovery.

An uphill battle Beca knew would prove difficult the more awake and alert she became. For as much as she could feel the aching pain of the bullet she took to the chest, she couldn't feel anything at all from her midriff down.

"Chlo," Beca croaked gaining the attention of the redhead who pulled back to gaze at her in the eye. Beca's breath stuttered in her chest, her eyes glistening with the build up of tears. Chloe frowned as Beca swallowed thickly and forced the words she didn't want to say out of her mouth.

"I c-can't feel my legs."

Chloe just closed her yes and swallowed around the giant sized lump in her throat, inhaling deeply through her nose to quell the rising sob. She couldn't cry over that in front of Beca.

Carefully taking a seat on the edge of the bed, mindful of all the wires, Chloe grasped her wife's hand between both of her own and squeezed them.

"Bec's I need you to listen to me okay," Chloe said, waiting for the soft nod of the head from her wife before continuing.

"The gunshot to your lower back caused a lot of damage. The doctors have done everything they can to repair it but they weren't sure if it would work," she said, rubbing one of her hands up and down her wife's arm for comfort.

"There's a possibility that, with time you might get feeling back but..." Chloe trailed off, struggling against her own emotions. She coughed to clear her throat as a loan tear escaped.

"But there's a uh, there's a greater chance that you m-might not," she hiccuped around the words as her emotions began to win out. Chloe knew telling her wife was going to be hard, but she never imagined it would be this hard.

How do you look someone in the eye and tell them their feet may never touch the ground. That they may never chase their kids around or dance around the kitchen with their wife again.

Chloe had prepared herself for the possibility of having the discussion, but she never realised until that moment how agonisingly painful it would be. Beca had remained silent, too silent for Chloe's liking.

All that could be heard was Beca's laboured breathing behind her oxygen mask and the beeping of various different machines. Then, Beca's voice penetrated the silence.

"I-I guess that's...what you get...for defending...your country," Beca replied, her words weak and punctuated by her laboured breaths.

Chloe could pick up on the sarcasm and resentment in her wife's words as they pricked at her heart like a thousand tiny needles. Those words would define Chloe's attitude and resentment towards her government for as long as they reigned.

It wasn't right, Beca didn't deserve this. But a bigger part of Chloe, a selfish part of her would always be grateful that Beca was alive even if slightly broken. She knew her wife would undoubtably struggle with the consequences of her heroic actions, but Chloe would find a way to make it work, to make it easier. No matter how long it took.

"Babe listen to me, you're here, you're alive. You kept your promise to me and our girls and that's all I care about. Whatever journey is ahead of us, we'll face it together. I'm not gonna let this break us. Not after everything we've been through. I promise you that."

Promises had always been a big thing in the Mitchell household, after all, it was the biggest promise of all that carried Beca though every tour and even when she doubted it, she never broke it. So now it was Chloe's turn to make a promise, one that she would not break.

Beca didn't respond to what Chloe had said, she didn't have the energy. Between the heavy pain relieving drugs in her system and the toll the surgeries and injuries had taken on her body, all she could do was drift off into a deep sleep with her wife's words echoing in her ears.

Chloe remained where she was seated for a few more moments, gently caressing Beca's forearm before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her forehead. Standing up from the bed, she made her way outside to find her mother and Aubrey sat in the corridor next to the window, both women jumping to their feet once they noticed her emerge.

"Chloe," Aubrey said, waiting for some form of reaction. Chloe glanced back and forth between the two of them, a fresh wave of tears welling in her bloodshot eyes.

"She can't feel her legs," Chloe croaked as the reality and gravity of the situation finally hit her outside of the hospital room.

"She can't feel her legs," she sobbed as Meredith Beale pulled her daughter into her arms and wrapped her up as tight as she could.

They had all prepared for many different outcomes once Beca had been brought down to surgery, but none of them could've prepared for how they would actually feel.

Aubrey placed a hand against her chest as if trying to sooth the feeling of being sucker punched by the words, the air having been knocked from her lungs.

Even with everything they had been told, Beca's friends and family had held out hope that if the soldier woke up, that things would somehow be okay. But maybe okay meant something different.

As Meredith held her daughter Aubrey took a step closer and ran a soothing hand up and down her best friends back. She could only image the pain Chloe was in at that moment and she wanted nothing more than to make it go away.

Later that evening, Chloe, along with her parents, her wife's parents and a few of their closest friends and her elder brothers were sat around the family room trying to digest the news. It was a bitter pill for all of them to swallow.

"So what happens now?" Jesse asked, finally sick of the silence in the room. Chloe swallowed thickly, her hands nursing the styrofoam cup of coffee in her hands like it was a lifeline.

"The uh, the main concern for the doctors right now is monitoring how her heart is healing. If there are no complications, a specialist at the hospital wants to insert an ICD. If everything goes okay, then it will be routine check-ups to make sure everything stays on track."

Chloe ran her finger around the rim of her cup as she spoke. She couldn't look anyone in the eye for fear of opening the well of tears inside her that didn't seem to have an end. She was still processing all the information herself

"So no transplant?" Ethan, the middle of the Beale boys asked.

Chloe briefly glanced up at him and shook her head in the negative.

"No, at least not for the foreseeable future, if ever," she replied.

Well that was something they could all hang their hopes on at the very least. The damage to Beca's heart from the gunshot wound had been the biggest concern for medical staff. Having a patient flatline twice was not something doctors liked to see in patients hanging by a thread.

As for the issue of Beca's mobility, that was a hurdle that Chloe had been thinking about the last couple of hours. She knew that it would be months before her wife saw the outside of a hospital.

Once Beca was deemed well enough to be up and about, she would be moved to a military rehabilitation centre where she would begin the journey of adapting to a new way of life. But after that, nothing was set in stone.

Their home was not equipped to deal with a wheelchair. There were so many adjustments that would have to be made and Chloe wasn't even sure their home was big enough to accommodate such remodelling.

The house had been their first real home as a married couple, the home they had started their family in. It had been fine for the longest period of time because Beca was always away for months on end.

But as their family expanded, it began to feel a little more cramped, and they had discussed finding a bigger house now that Beca was back home. Little did Chloe realise, that very discussion would become a vital necessity.

"There's so much that's gonna need to be done," Chloe sighed, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees, bringing a hand up to wipe at her tired eyes. John Beale stood leaving against a wall, his arms crossed over his chest as he gazed at the shadow that once was his vibrant daughter.

"You don't worry about that. Everything will be taken care of, I'll make sure of it," he said, Meredith giving her husband a soft smile of approval, knowing what that meant. Chloe shook her head.

"Dad no, I can't ask you to do that, I won't," Chloe said, her tone resolute. Beca's father Jack nodded at what his daughter-in-law had said.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do here John but it's not necessary. We can find a way to make this work."

John shook his head and pushed himself off the wall and began walking across the room, sliding his hands into his pockets as he moved, he came to a stop on front of Jack who had been standing near Chloe.

"You don't have to find a way to make it work Jack, and I'm not doing this because I'm being asked," he said, directing the end of the sentence at Chloe.

"I'm doing it because that soldier out there, risked everything for my daughter, our grandchildren. She has put her neck on the line more times for this country than I can count and quite frankly I'm sick of seeing the lack of respect and care that comes from that."

Chloe gazed up at her father as he spoke to Jack. She could see the veins in the side of his neck popping up out of frustration. Her father was angry and he wanted to channel that anger into something positive by finding a solution to the problem.

"I love your daughter as if she were my own. Like hell am I gonna stand back and let her slip through the cracks when I have the means to do everything I can to make sure she has access to the best care and the best quality of life."

Everyone in the room watched on in silence, not used to seeing John Beale display this side of his character. He was an even keeled, passionate kind of guy, and that passion was what drove him to stand up to injustice. Almost everything Chloe was as a person was inherited from her father.

"There was nothing I could do when she was in Afghanistan and there was nothing I could do when she put her life on the line to protect everybody in this room, but I can do this. Beca deserves the best care, let me give it to her."

Jack Mitchell stood with his hands on his hips, head dipped low as John Beale stood before him asking him to let go of his pride for Beca's sake. It was hard, Jack had always been a proud man, but he knew that the level of care Beca could receive with Johns input would be second to none, and he couldn't let his daughter miss out on that over something as stupid as pride.

"Okay," Jack replied, his voice low and gravelly as he nodded and then looked up at John and gazed at him straight in the eye. Lifting his hand, he held it out for John and they shook hands, giving one another that firm squeeze of mutual respect.

"Thank you," Jack whispered and John simply placed his other hand atop their joined hands and tipped his head before turning to his daughter and crouching down in front of her.

"Now you listen to me. From here on out, your only concern is to taking care of Beca and the girls. Don't worry about money or what comes next. You leave that to me and your mother you hear me."

Chloe glanced back and forth between her father and her mother before nodding her head and wrapping her arms around her fathers neck, pulling him into a hug. In that moment she felt a weight lifting from her shoulders and for the first time in her life, thanked God for the privileged life her family had been gifted.

Chloe never cared for her family's wealth, it had always just been a part of her life growing up. But she couldn't deny that in this particular moment and time she was grateful for it. Because if that's what it took to help heal her wife as best they could, then she would let go of her pride and allow it to ease some of the burden.

The days that followed were a slow and painful reminder of just how long the journey of recovery would be. Beca was never really fully coherent, too drugged up and too exhausted to really hold any meaningful conversation. But it didn't really matter.

With Jesse and Aubrey, they just talked about everything that was happening in the world while she listened. Her parents and Chloe's parents regaled her with stories of how the girls were doing.

And Chloe, she just sat in silence holding Beca's hand, making sure that her presence was always felt even when no words were spoken. Often she would just hold her wife's hand close to her chest and softly sing to sooth her to sleep.

It didn't feel like a whole lot but even that made Chloe feel like she was doing something. After about four days of being monitored closely by doctors and nurses, Chloe had been informed that if Beca was really feeling up to it, the girls could pay a small visit.

At first Chloe was hesitant, especially with Beca still being the in the ICU. But she could see it in her wife's face that she needed something to lift her spirits and if anything could achieve this it would be their daughters.

So, one Saturday afternoon, Chloe walked down the corridor of the hospital with Charlie in one arm resting on her hip while Riley walked quietly beside her. A homemade 'Get Well Soon' card dangling by her side.

Chloe wasn't sure how the girls would react to seeing Beca in such a state, it had been hard on the adults so she could only image how tough it would be on her daughters. But her wife was so eager to see the girls, she couldn't keep them apart any longer.

Once they reached the entrance to the ICU, Chloe came to a stop and tugged on Riley's hand to get her attention.

"Sweetie remember what we talked about. Mama's really sore right now from fighting all the bad guys so we need to be extra gentle with her. Don't touch or pull on any of the wires, okay," Chloe said giving her daughter that eye that told her not to misbehave or there would be consequences.

"Okay Mommy," Riley nodded, trying to use her body as a prop to help adjust her grip on the card she had made since her other hand was currently being held captive by her mother.

With a quick exhale of breath to prepare herself, Chloe caught the attention of the nurse at reception who opened the door to allow them in. They slowly made their way down the corridor to Beca's room and once they arrived at their destination, Chloe released Riley's hand and opened the door over just a little at first.

The little girl stared hesitantly up at her mother, the sound of the machines escaping the room making her anxious. However Chloe simply gave her a warm smile and squeeze of the hand to let her know that everything was fine.

"It's okay sweetie, it's just the machines giving your Mama medicine, there's nothing to be scared of."

Riley still didn't seem sure, but she gave a timid nod of the head, she wanted to see her Mama, and if that meant facing the big scary machines, that's what she would do.

After giving Riley a moment to adjust, Chloe slowly nudged the door the rest of the way open. Stepping inside, Chloe could feel Riley pulling back, her feet were still moving but she was half hidden behind her Mommy's leg.

Chloe didn't force her out, she simply kept walking, coming to a stop near the bed and leaning her head down to get Charlie's attention.

"Look sweetie it's Mama," she cooed, trying to keep her voice light and full of excitement as if trying to normalise the situation.

At that moment, Beca's eyes opened and she turned her head, a weak smile crossing her lips as she gazed at her family. She smiled down at Riley, and turned her hand over, extending slightly as much as she could for her eldest daughter to take.

"Hey Bug," Beca mumbled, her voice still sounding raspy behind the oxygen mask. Riley carefully took a step forward, glancing up at her Mommy who gave her an encouraging nod and then made her way over to the bed.

She slipped her hand into her Mama's and pressed herself up against the bed, her little eyes wandering to all the wires and machines. Chloe and Beca could already see her curious little mind kicking into overdrive.

"Why do you have that funny mask on?" She asked pointing towards her Mama's face. Beca chuckled, though her body didn't appreciate it and placed her hand on the mask to move it aside.

"The mask helps me breathe better," Beca explained in the simplest terms possible. Riley's little brow furrowed in thought.

"But why?" She asked, not understanding why her Mama would need it when she was perfectly capable of breathing before. Chloe could see that Beca didn't have the energy for long winded answers and took it upon herself to explain.

"When Mama got hurt, the doctors had to give her surgery to make her better. But her body's too tired right now to do everything it needs to do on its own, so these machines," Chloe said pointing to the various monitors, "help Mama do what she can't do for herself right now."

"They're making her better?" Riley asked and Chloe faltered at that one, not sure how to answer because she knew saying yes would make it harder to explain Beca's situation later on. Luckily Beca found her voice again.

"The doctors are trying to make me better Ry, the machines just help while they're away helping other people who are sick."

That seemed to appease Riley for the time being as she hurtled into a long winded story about her time at the lake house. As the oldest Mitchell daughter blabbered away at a mile a minute, Chloe took the opportunity to reach out and readjust her wife's oxygen mask.

Beca had been pushing herself to breathe as much as possible without it, but conversations really knocked the wind out of her and Chloe didn't want to risk setting her recovery back. Beca simply grinned knowingly at Chloe and allowed it to happen, silently thanking her.

For the best part of an hour Beca and Chloe listened intently to all of Riley's stories, including the ones she shared on Charlie's behalf. When Beca's eyes began to get droopy, Chloe decided to wrap things up so her wife could rest.

"Ry, why don't you show Mama your card before we go," she suggested, handing it to Riley to give to her Mama, the little girl bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"It's you fighting all the bad guys and winning," Riley smiled, pointing at what looked like little stick figure men running away and Beca and her fellow soldiers cheering. Riley then pointed at the gold medal around stick Beca's neck.

"Uncle Jesse said when soldiers do good stuff they get medals, so I gave you a medal."

A tear slipped past Beca's defences as she gazed at the card, her daughters messy scrawl obviously having been tamed by the guidance of an adult. Chloe herself was trying to battle back her emotions. Trust a four years old to reduce them to puddles of mush.

"I love it Bug. I'm gonna...get Mommy to put it right there...so I can always see it," Beca said, pointing to the window ledge right where Chloe was sitting where a bundle of cards were stacked.

Chloe took the card from Riley and placed it in pride of place, where Beca had an easy view of it. She knew her wife would look to it for motivation, so made sure it stood out amongst the others.

"Okay guys, it's time to go. Mama needs to rest and Grandpa Jack and Grandma Diane promised to take you guys for ice cream. Give Mama a kiss."

Riley was hesitant to go but knew that she had to since she promised to behave. Walking over to the bed she did her best to reach up and kiss her Mama on the cheek. Then Chloe coaxed Charlie to blow a kiss from her place in the redheads arms. Beca making a show of catching it.

Navy eyes watched as Chloe led the girls out of the room and once they were out of sight, they succumbed to the heaviness of sleep as Beca's mind eased into a peaceful of heavily drug induced rest.

After a short walk down the corridor outside of the ICU, Chloe stepped inside the family room and Riley instantly ran to her Grandpa Jack, the older man stooping down to catch her and hoist her up. Chloe then handed Charlie to Diane who bounced the little brunette up and down eliciting plenty of laughter.

"We're going to take the girls out for an early dinner. Why don't you join us?" Diane asked as she held Charlie close, her attention on her daughter-in-law. Chloe simply shook her head and crossed her arms over chest, something she often did when feeling vulnerable.

"Thanks Diane but I'm gonna stay here. The doctor wants to speak to Beca and I about treatment going forward and what to expect over the next couple of months."

Meredith was sitting in one of the chairs watching the conversation and could tell her daughter was terrified of what was to come and who could blame her. There was still a lot of uncertainty around the future. Diane wanted to argue with Chloe but knew better than to push the redhead when she was set on something.

"Okay. We'll bring you back something later. Aubrey is going to take the girls tonight so we'll be back later."

Chloe simply smiled and nodded, approaching both her daughters and giving them a loving kiss. She hated all the time they were spending apart but she couldn't keep them cooped up in a hospital.

She promised herself that once Beca was out of the ICU that she would make more of an effort to be home more. Her family and friends were right she couldn't be at the hospital 24/7 and be a good mother.

She just needed that indication that Beca was out of the woods and then she could relax more, ease up on the time she was spending there. Devote more time to her daughters and actually take care of herself. Once Beca was out of the ICU things would change. They had to, for the sake of her family.

Once Jack, Diane and the girls had left, Chloe took a seat in one of the chairs next to her mother and slumped down into it, resting her elbows on her knees as she wiped the tiredness from her eyes, Merediths voice breaking the silence in the room.

"You need to start taking care of yourself Chlo. You're gonna burn yourself out. It's not good to be cooped in here day and night. There are plenty of us here to be with Beca while you take time away."

Chloe heaved out a restless sigh. Her mother was relaying everything she knew to be true, but no matter how right everybody was, she couldn't bring herself to listen and actually take that step away. The simple reason being, that fear was holding her back.

"I can't," Chloe whispered, her eyes glazing over as she thought of the real reason why she couldn't just relax. She turned to gaze at her mother and Meredith frowned, her daughters face taking on this hopeless expression.

"Every time I think of leaving all I can hear is the last conversation I had with Beca back on base. Images of her lying in my arms barely breathing just racing around in my head reminding me that I almost lost her."

A tear slid down Chloe's cheek and she quickly wiped it away with the back of her hand. Meredith hated seeing her daughter like this but she knew there was nothing she could do to take the memory away from Chloe. She would always live with it and that was a burden no one should have to bear.

"I'm afraid to leave because I'm sacred that if I stay away too long I'll come back and she'll be gone. That I'll wake up to realise all of this was just a dream."

Meredith wrapped an arm around her daughter and pulled her into a side hug, making sure to hold her tight. She could only imagine the fear that now lived inside her daughter, the fear of losing the person she loved most.

No one in the Beale family would ever be able to empathise with Chloe's pain and that was thanks to Beca and the sacrifices she had made. But those same sacrifices had also left scars that may never heal.

She knew Chloe wouldn't even consider seeing a therapist, not yet anyways, but as Meredith pondered on her daughters fears she made a mental note to find someone that Chloe could talk to, in time, when she was ready.

After a couple of silent moments, Chloe noticed the time on the clock on the wall and stood up, rubbing the tears from her face with the sleeve of her sweater.

"The Doctor will be by any minute..." Chloe didn't have to finish the sentence for her mother to understand where she was headed. She just simply nodded and watched her go.

That afternoon, as the doctor met Beca and Chloe and explained everything, Chloe sat by Beca's side, her wife's hand cradled in her own. He did a thorough exam of Beca's legs to check for any sensation, but there was none.

From what he could tell, based on Beca's description of what she could and could not feel, he was confident enough in his assessment to state that she was more than likely paralysed from just above her waist.

In that moment, Chloe felt the grip on her hand tighten, the reality of the situation hitting Beca full force for the first time, and Chloe squeezed back. A silent message that no matter what, she wasn't going anywhere.

They discussed implanting an ICD, the doctor assuring them that with Beca's weakened heart, it was better to be safe than sorry. It was another surgery that she would need once she was in a healthier state, but it was a necessity, and it least if would give them piece of mind.

"Do you have any questions?" He asked to which Beca shook her head. Chloe could see that her wife was drained from the conversation and turned to the doctor with a grateful smile.

"Right now I think we've had a little bit of information overload. Can we talk with you another time if we think of any?" She asked and the doctor gave a very firm tip of the head.

"Of course. If you need to talk about anything have one of the nurses page me and I'll stop by as soon as I can."

Once Chloe thanked him, he left the room, nothing but silence remained. Chloe propped her elbows on the bed so she was closer to her wife and kept a firm grip on her hand.

"Hey, talk to me," she said, her eyes roaming over Beca's tired face. The brunette stayed gazing up at the ceiling, swallowing thickly around the lump in her throat as she tried to digest everything she had been told.

"I just... I don't know how to feel. It's like, it's like I feel everything and nothing at the same time," her words sounding slightly breathless, chest heaving.

"I should be grateful... that I'm alive, that I get to be with you and the girls but, I'm never gonna walk again. And I don't know... how I'm su-supposed to process that."

As the last sentence left her, Beca could no longer hold back the tears and Chloe quickly stood up and carefully perched herself on the bed next to her wife, still holding her hand tightly as the other one softly cupped her cheek.

"Hey, baby listen to me," Chloe said, waiting until Beca's attention was solely on her before continuing.

"There is no right or wrong way to process this. You're entitled to feel whatever you're feeling right now. Whether that's anger or sadness or nothing at all. If you need to be mad, be mad, if you need to cry, then cry your heart out, but know this, no matter what I'm gonna be right here, always, whatever you need."

Beca squeezed Chloe's hand, tugging on it as she digested the words. Eventually she got annoyed with the oxygen mask and pulled it down, she was sick of talking through a barrier. Chloe wanted to protest but Beca just shook her head.

"I can't... I can't promise that I wo-won't get mad... or frustrated with you or anyone else. I just, I don't want to hurt you... but I know... there'll be times, when I push you away, and I know that's gonna hurt you..." Beca trailed off trying to catch her breath. Chloe simply shook her head at her wife was saying.

"Bec's I know all this. I know that there are gonna be days when rehab is too much, or you're frustrated with your recovery. But I also know in my heart that no matter how much you aim that negative energy at me, that you're not doing it to hurt me. That its not about me or us."

Chloe stopped her train of thought for a moment, taking in the sounds of the various beeping monitors and nurses milling around outside the room door. A constant reminder of the situation they were in.

Shifting up closer along the bed, Chloe crossed her leg up under herself and cradled her wife's hand in her lap, softly playing with her fingers. She battled against the rising emotion in her chest, fresh tears welling in her eyes, head down as she focused on the hand in hers.

"A couple of weeks ago, I held you in my arms and thought that I was gonna lose you. The second your eyes closed I literally felt my heart stop and I couldn't breathe."

Gazing up with tears now falling down her cheeks, Chloe wiped them away and glanced up at the ceiling to help stem the flow, blowing out a breath before turning her attention back on her wife.

"So if I have to live with you shouting at me or being angry with me while you deal with this I'll take it, I'll take all of it. I almost lost you once and it destroyed me and I won't risk that again. Just promise me that you'll never stop talking to me. I don't care if it's to scream just don't ever stop talking to me. As long as we communicate we can get through this."

Beca remained silent for a moment, not trusting herself to speak just yet. She knew that it was easy to forget about the real world while she was still bed ridden, but sooner or later she would have to face the reality of her recovery and she knew that would be when all of her emotions really took hold.

She was a proud, stubborn, independent person and the thought of having to depend on anyone wounded her pride. However, years with Chloe had also softened her, had relaxed her independent streak and made her realise that it was okay to lean on someone.

That Chloe would never do anything to make her feel like less of a person or or make her feel like needing to lean on her from time to time somehow made her weak.

After years of being together Chloe had mastered the art of being a supportive presence without being overbearing and Beca was depending on that to get her though this.

Because she could deal with learning to adapt to her new situation, but she couldn't deal with people fawning over her or overcompensating to make her life easier.

She didn't want to be treated differently. However, Beca was acutely aware of the fact that this would be a learning process for everyone, so she just had to trust in Chloe and knowing her wife would never do anything to make Beca feel like any less of a person.

But it was a two way street. As much as Beca needed her wife to be supportive without suffocating her, she also needed to keep the lines of communication open so that Chloe didn't feel like she was being shut out.

It would be tough, but Beca had to make that promise. She couldn't do this alone and she never wanted to risk losing her wife. Chloe was everything to Beca. With time she could deal with losing the use of her legs, but losing Chloe and their daughters over her own stupid pride, Beca could never live with herself.

"Okay... I promise," Beca whispered, and they sealed it with a kiss, Chloe leaning down to cup her wife's cheek in her hand as their lips locked.

The Mitchell family had a long road ahead of them, there would be many ups and downs, but they would find a way through it, together. Facing the window ledge, Beca's gaze landed on the homemade card that stood out front and centre.

The one hand crafted by her eldest daughter. The one that clearly displayed how Riley felt about her Mama. In her daughters eyes, she was a hero. Now Beca needed to live up to that title.

She needed to be the person Riley and Charlie say when they looked at her. She needed to be the wife that Chloe deserved. Silently she made a promise to herself, she would face every hurdle, overcome all obstacles.

Whether that was on two legs or not, Beca Mitchell would find a way to adapt so that she could return home and give her family the life they deserved. They would have a happily ever after, one way or another.


	21. An Uphill Climb

Beca gazed out the window as the sound of the machines around her filled the silence with its uniquely musical quality, almost like a symphony. It was weird in a way, maybe Beca had been around them too long, or maybe it was just convenient to focus in on those mechanical, methodical sounds than the noise inside her own head.

She watched as sun dawned on a new day, wondering how the outside world was coping, how it was rebuilding. She'd heard various different reports from friends and family, but a part of her needed to see it with her own eyes.

From what she could decipher, it seemed like everyone was doing their best to move on, to forget. But she couldn't, she would never be able to. Not with the physical reminders of what she had sacrificed for the safety of others.

She swallowed thickly as her eyes navigated towards the sleeping form of her wife in the recliner arm chair in the corner of the room, her throat still sore from the tube that had been lodged there in order to help pump oxygen into her lungs.

It was the first time since she'd woken up that she had seen Chloe look remotely peaceful. Ever since that dark, horrific day, the redhead seemed to carry around a weight of chaos on her shoulders.

Chloe had taken it upon herself to converse with medical staff, taking in every single piece of information she could. She was juggling caring for their daughters with trying to navigate the countless family and friends who seemed to appear in their droves.

She was exhausted, and Beca could see it so clearly on her wife's face. She may still have been on some heavy drugs, but her mind was less foggy than it had been when she first came around. And if there was one thing Beca had always been attuned to, it was her wife.

Beca could see and read all the little things most people missed because they were so wrapped in the warm sunny disposition that Chloe carried like a blanket. It fooled people into believing things were okay when the reality may have been far different.

It was this ability to see past Chloe's happy demeanour that had made the redhead realise Beca was the one for her. Because she was the only person who had ever noticed the little things.

Beca watched as Chloe's brow creased, the tell tale sign that she was rousing from her deep sleep. She watched as her wife began to shift under the blanket she had draped over herself and raised a hand to wipe at her eyes.

Eventually, they flickered open and gazed across the room to find Beca staring back at her. Chloe grinned, a real genuine grin, in acknowledgement of the fact that this was the first time she had woken up to find her wife watching over her.

"You're exhausted," Beca mumbled, her voice still gravelly and hoarse but improving every day. The oxygen mask had since been replaced with a nasal cannula, a small sign that she was improving little by little.

Chloe rolled her eyes and moved the blanket aside, kicking the recliner back into place as she stood up and crossed the room, taking a seat in the side of the bed.

"I'm fine. I actually got a good nights sleep last night," Chloe replied, keeping her tone light and airy to try and promote a sense of positivity. Beca's brow furrowed as she reached for Chloe's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Chlo, you need to go home. Have a shower, eat a proper meal, get a decent nights sleep in a real bed," Beca stressed watching as Chloe's eyes dipped down as if trying to ignore the situation.

"That's what I keep telling her," came the voice of Aubrey as she stepped into the room, a large handbag hanging from her shoulder that seemed full to the brim.

"Hey Aubrey," Beca said as she pressed the button on her bed that allowed her to be elevated slightly. Chloe keeping watch to make sure she didn't over elevate the bed.

Having finally been deemed fit enough to undergo another surgery, the doctors had implanted the ICD and were confident that it would ensure Beca a better quality of life. They couldn't account for what might happen down the road, but considering how dire the situation seemed when she had initially been brought in, anything was better than hovering at deaths door.

That had been three days ago, and while all signs were good that the brunette was healing well, she still had to be careful. With her lack of mobility and the various surgeries she'd had, blood clots were a threat, they needed to make sure that Beca was properly situated at all times until she recovered enough from her surgeries so that they could start working on getting her up and about again.

While that was still a little bit away, they had the peace of mind of knowing that if Beca continued to improve, then in a couple of days they would move her from the ICU to the high dependency ward. From there, if the signs indicated that she was no longer in need of intense treatment, there was talk of her being moved to a state of the art rehabilitation centre across town.

Chloe's dad had pulled some strings with a friend who worked for the centre. Since John Beale was a regular donator to the hospital, they were working on allocating Beca a spot at the facility so she could receive the best care.

She would have her own private room, access to the best physios and rehab teams, and above all else, it would give her more freedom to spend time with her family as she recovered.

No one had mentioned this to Beca yet, they needed to be sure of her place there before they shared the news, but it was moving towards positive steps and Chloe was more than happy to settle for that for the time being.

Her house was still another issue, something that needed addressing if Beca were to move home. Chloe had brought it up a couple of times, about needing to get things in order, however each time she mentioned it, John Beale would simply wave off her comments and assure her that he had it covered.

It was difficult for Chloe not to worry when she didn't see anything happening with her house, but she trusted that her Dad was doing what needed to be done. She just wasn't quite sure what that was yet.

Beca turned her attention back to her wife and watched as Chloe picked at a stray thread on the bed cover while holding the brunettes hand. Beca squeezed it and gave it a tug, pulling it up towards her chest so that Chloe's eyes would follow.

"Chlo, go home. Get some rest, spend time with the girls and come back later," Beca said, her tone giving no room for argument though Chloe's mouth opened in an attempt to try. But Beca wasn't prepared to listen.

"I'm not taking no for an answer. You've been cooped up in here for weeks you need a break. Besides, Aubrey's here to keep an eye on me, both sets of parents are floating around and Jesse is gonna be stopping by later. I'll be fine."

Chloe gazed up at Beca's face, looking rather sceptical about the whole thing. Beca had been making improvements sure but things could still go wrong. She didn't want to be miles away in the event that something did happen.

But she couldn't fight the exhaustion in her body much longer and she missed spending quality time with her daughters. It was an internal battle she was struggling with. The fear of losing her wife still holding her in a voice like grip. Then she turned to Aubrey who stared back at her with a warm smile, arms crossed and her head cocked slightly to the side.

"Chlo, go home. Beca's right you need the rest, you'll be no good to anyone if you run yourself into the ground. I'll be here until Jesse arrives and your mom said she's gonna be by later with some of that home made soup Beca loves."

Beca's ears perked up at this as she turned her attention to Aubrey.

"With her homemade rolls?" She asked, actually feeling a distant calling of an appetite for the first time in weeks. Aubrey rolled her eyes.

"Yes she's bringing homemade rolls."

Chloe chuckled at this, the sight of Beca getting excited about food doing wonders to elevate her mood. It had been difficult for her wife to eat. The various drugs she was on disrupting her appetite and causing her nausea.

But this, this was progress, and it was enough to lift the weight of the anchor of dread lodged in Chloe's chest. With one more glance between the pleading eyes of her wife and her best friend, Chloe relaxed her shoulders and nodded her okay.

"Alright, I'll go home. But once I've had a shower, a nap and spent some time with the girls I'm coming back."

A small smile crossed Beca's lips and she squeezed Chloe's hand. She knew better than to try and push for more than that. She needed to accept the small steps and works towards Chloe getting back into the old routine.

"As long as you get some rest, that's fine by me," Beca replied, tugging on Chloe's hand for her to get closer. Once the redhead was perched right next to her, Beca tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"We promised we would get through this together. I know you want me to get better but no matter what my situation is, I'm always gonna wanna make sure that you're okay too. Now go home before I have Aubrey physically remove you."

Chloe chuckled at this as Aubrey stood with her arms crossed, eyebrows arched, daring Chloe to try her. Aubrey was ridiculously strong and Beca could actual recall early on in her relationship with Chloe, seeing the former roommates wrestling over something to do with acapella in the middle of rehearsal.

Beca had to admit that she had been impressed to see Aubrey wrangle several Bella's all on her own, including Chloe. Though Aubrey's strength had been no match for Beca's precision and hand to hand combat training. Something her father had instilled in her growing up.

She was always the smallest kid, so he had taught her a couple of things to give her the upper hand when the bigger kids picked on her. Needless to say when Beca had been hauled into the principals office one day for beating up on one of the older kids, Jack had played the part of the disapproving father, before fist bumping his little girl as they left the school.

Those skills had played a big part in Beca acing her military training and helped her climb the ranks, and Jack couldn't have been more proud.

Now though, those skills were stored away, Beca's lack of mobility impacting on a lot of the skills she once had. But who knew what lay down the road, maybe one day she'd learn a new way to use them.

"Alright, I'm going, I'll be back soon," Chloe whispered as she leaned in and pressed a long languid kiss on her wife's lips.

"I love you," she whispered, before finally pulling herself away from the bed and gathering up her things.

As she walked around the bed she placed a hand on Aubrey's arm and gave it a squeeze, shooting a small closed mouth smile, silently thanking her for looking out for her wife and then exited the room.

Chloe slung the strap of her handbag across her chest and folded her jacket over her arms as she walked the short distance down the corridor to the family waiting room. Stepping inside she smiled at the sight of her father and Jack Mitchell talking about some football game that was playing on the tv while Peter scrolled through his phone.

"Hey," she greeted, gaining the attention of all three men.

"I'm gonna go home for a couple of hours, get some sleep, spend time with the girls. Could one of you give me a ride?" She asked.

John Beale went to stand up but was halted by Jack who reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys.

"I could do with breath of fresh air," he said, smiling at his daughter and law and giving John the universal hand gesture of 'I got this'.

Chloe thanked him and waved at her father and brother as they left the room, her anxiety rising the closer they got to exit. Jack seemed to sense this and placed a comforting hand on Chloe's back.

"Hey, Beca's gonna be fine. She's got an army in their to keep her company," Jack said with a reassuring smile.

Chloe grimaced at the comment, hating the sound of anything remotely linked to the military being used in the same conversation as her wife.

Part of her hated that she resent the military, after all it wasn't their fault, they were simply following orders and serving their country. But she also couldn't shake the thought that had Beca chosen some other career, she wouldn't be in that hospital bed.

The men and women who had stood on the frontlines with Beca were like brothers and sisters, they shared experiences no one outside the military would ever understand. It was for that reason, Chloe hoped her resentment would fade with time.

The car journey home had been relatively quick. The house had remained in tact, something that was questionable after all the bombings that had occurred. Chloe was grateful. The house was home to so many memories, so many keepsakes that Chloe treasured, or at least used to.

Chloe had been so fiercely protective of so many things in that house for so many years because they were directed links to her wife when Beca was away on tour.

But everything that had happened she realised, as long as her daughters and wife were okay, then Chloe had everything she could ever need.

Homes could be rebuilt. New memories and keepsakes could be gathered over time. Belongings could be replaced. But she could never replace her family, and that was when Chloe realised she was blessed.

Some families hadn't been so lucky. She'd been to enough funerals to know that. It was the main reason she counted her blessings every day.

Stepping inside the house for the first time in what felt like forever Chloe very quickly came to realise that, the house was just it, a house. Brinks and water. Without Beca, without Riley and Charlie, it wasn't home.

There was no pitter patter of Riley's feet running around the house, no boisterous laughter from Charlie, no strumming of a melody from Beca's guitar. It was vacant of anything resembling a home. Except for the contents and material objects.

Jack must have sensed Chloe's unease as she suddenly felt a hand resting on her shoulder and giving it a gentle, comforting squeeze.

"Don't worry, this place will be bustling like a crazy house again before you know."

Chloe placed her hand over the one on her shoulder and turned her head to smile up at her father in law, silently thanking him for his reassurances before she walked further into the house and deposited her bag and coat onto the couch in the living room.

"I'm gonna go take a nap and grab a shower," Chloe started to day and Jack instantly waved off any need for her to continue.

"Don't worry, I'll make myself at home here. I'm no Masterchef but I make a mean grilled cheese sandwich. You go on upstairs and I'll rustle some up and bring em on up. Diane will be with the girls by about 3, I'm sure she can make a proper dinner when she gets here."

Chloe nodded her head and thanked him, slowly ascending the stairs as Jack made his way into the kitchen, happy to see that the cabinets and fridge had been kept replenished over the weeks when it had been vacant.

He quickly put together some grilled cheese sandwiches and made up a nice pot of tea and placed them on a tray. He carried them upstairs and knocked on the bedroom door, finding Chloe sitting at her vanity mirror brushing out her now wet hair from her shower.

"Like I said, I'm no Masterchef but it should fill a hole in the appetite for a little while."

Chloe grinned at him and looked at the sandwiches, her stomach instantly reacting to the sight of the food.

"This is great Jack, I really appreciate it, thank you," she replied smiling at the man who was standing with his hands in his trouser pockets.

Jack lifted his hand and hiked his thumb over his shoulder indicating that he would leave and give her space. Chloe returned her attention to the food in front of her and poured herself some tea, placing some milk and a little sugar in the cup.

Picking up one of the sandwiches, she took a bite and almost moaned. It felt good to be eating something that wasn't from a hospital canteen or from a takeaway container.

After finishing up one sandwich, half of the other and a glorious cup of tea, she made her way to the bed and pulled back the cover, climbing in and setting her alarm before allowing the exhaustion she had been fighting off to consume her.

Back at the hospital, Beca and Aubrey debated their way through multiple episodes of the The Bachelor, the brunette actually finding joy in being able to get outside her own head for a while.

She had spent so much time consumed by medical information and ruminating over the event that had led her to where she was, that she felt suffocated by her own thoughts, but not like last time.

The last time PTSD had consumed her, Beca felt like she was in a battle against her own desire to die. This time, even with the circumstances she had survive and the cards she had been dealt, she found herself with an almost overwhelming will to live.

Seeing her family in a life or death situation, the scared little faces of her daughters, instilled in Beca this desire to never let that sense of fear ever penetrate her family's lives again.

She wanted to grow old with Chloe, she wanted to see her daughters grow up, graduate, get married, have families of their own. Or not if that's what they wanted. She wasn't too pushed either way as long as they were happy.

Beca just wanted to be there for it all. It was ironic. She was in a pretty tough situation, but never had she wanted to live more. Sure it was going to be tough, and there would be many challenges along the way.

She wasn't naive to her circumstances, but if the outcome was getting to be with her family, then she would take on all the hurdles. Because as difficult as she knew they would be, as much as she knew she would have to adjust and that it would be a process, she would have Chloe by her side. And that was all the strength she needed to get through it.

"Hey, you're doing an awful lot of thinking. The whole point of watching The Bachelor is that you don't actually need to engage your brain," Aubrey states as she muted the tv and turned in her seat.

Beca chuckled, they had often joked about the series being tailor made for the simple minded, in other words, no brain activity was really required. It was the main reason for choosing to binge the latest season from the beginning.

Suddenly she stopped, and she chewed on her bottom lip, looking at Aubrey inquisitively before shifting slightly in her position to get more comfortable.

"If I ask you something, can you keep it between us?" She asked and Aubrey narrowed her eyes in scepticism.

"It depends on what it is," she replied leaning back in her seat and folding her arms across her chest.

"I wanna renew my wedding vows, but I don't want Chloe to know. I want it to be a surprise," Beca said gazing at Aubrey who had a sweet smile on her face and the glistening of tears welling in her eyes.

"It won't be for a while. I still have a lot of rehab to get through. But hopefully, in the not to distant future, when I'm home and things are relatively back to normal, I'll need your help."

Aubrey placed a hand against her chest, clearly touched that Beca thought to ask her. With a tip of the head Aubrey beamed at the brunette.

"I would be honoured to help."

"Honoured to help with what?" Came the voice of Jesse as he came bounding into the room, a bag full of treats under one arm and another full of DVD's under the other.

Beca and Aubrey glanced at one another and then back at Jesse. Beca gestured for him to close the door.

"If I tell you, you can't tell anyone, it doesn't leave this room. Understood?".

Jesse zipped his lips and tossed away the key, earning an eye roll from his best friend before she filled him on her future plans.

 _3 Weeks Later..._

Beca gazed at the new chair by her bed, the one with wheels that stared back at her mockingly. The one that had been custom fit to her size and needs. The seat was cushion padded, not too soft, but not too hard.

There were removable handles to the back of the chair and the back support came up just high enough to offer the right amount of support without feeling overbearing.

It was incredibly streamlined, not like the big clunky wheelchairs they kept in the hospital. There were removal arm rests too so Beca could choose whether or not she wanted the arm rest or if she wanted to keep the chair as neat and tidy as possible.

The chair was designed for ergonomic living. It was designed to make life easier. It could easily pass through regular sized doorways, which was never something Beca had ever had to think about before.

It made her realise all of the things she'd never had to think about before. Like how she would drive a car, where she would park, whether or not there were disabled facilities around.

Concessions would obviously be made in her own home, but that didn't mean the world around her would be readily adaptable to her needs. It was a lot, and something Beca had been able to ignore up until her wheelchair finally arrived.

She knew it would be hard, she never could've anticipated just how hard it would be. The sheer overwhelming feeling of helplessness. She had been a soldier. She had fought in wars, dodged her way across land mines and stared death in the face more times than anyone should ever be comfortable with.

But this, this was another level of feeling utterly useless. How was she supposed to help raise her kids from this contraption? How was she ever supposed to make love to her wife when she couldn't even help herself to the toilet?

It was pathetic. She was pathetic. She tried not to let it show but Chloe had picked up on her mood, could see the subtle signs, the little tells that gave away Beca's true feelings. This was where the real healing began.

"You ready for some rehab?" Came the voice of Dave, Beca's hospital acquired physical therapist.

She didn't know it yet, but the hospital physician was only temporary until the doctors deemed her heart well enough for her to be moved to the rehabilitation centre that was holding a space for her.

Chloe watched the man standing with his hands on his hips, Beca's chair next to him. The brunette glanced up at him briefly then down at her lap. Chloe reached down and grabbed a hold of her hand, squeezing it to get her attention.

"Hey, it's okay, day by day remember," she whispered, her wife meeting her gaze, the look of uncertainty piercing Chloe's heart. She'd never seen her wife look this uncertain about anything before. She was always so self assured.

Eventually Beca tipped her head and allowed herself to be lifted from the bed and into her chair, the physician making quick work of lifting her legs into the footrests and locking them in place.

It felt weird, not that she could feel anything from above the waist down anyways, but that in itself was where the weirdness came from. She was physically sat in the chair, but she had no mobility to move or adjust herself. She felt like she was the physical equivalent of a dead weight.

She could see her legs, she could hear her mind willing them to move, but there was nothing. Communication between the two was severed. She could feel a metaphorical weight settling in her stomach and she knew, reality was about to come crashing down.

Beca didn't notice the tears rolling down her her cheeks until she felt two soft gentle hands cupping her face and the pads of two thumbs wiping them away.

When she glanced up, she could see Chloe crouched down in front of her and only noticed that the PT had left the room. Her wife had obviously asked for a moment to themselves.

"Hey, look at me," Chloe whispered, her voice soft, gaze unwavering.

I'm with you okay. I'm not going anywhere. If it gets to be too much just ask them to stop and we'll go again the next day, we'll keep going until we get the hang of it, okay?" She said wiping another tear from her wife's cheek.

Beca took a couple of deep breaths to stop the stuttering, shaky, panicked ones she had been taking before. She needed to calm herself down before the ache in her chest returned and Chloe knew that as she coached her wife through her breathing.

With as much courage as she could muster to face the challenges ahead of her, Beca jerkily nodded her head, gripping the hands that still rested against her face.

Chloe smiled and pressed a kiss to her lips before standing up and taking her place behind Beca's chair, pushing her out of the room and meeting the PT outside. Chloe stepped aside to allow him to take over pushing her wife's chair.

Stepping to the side so that she was walking side by side with the wheelchair, Chloe reached down and took Beca's hand, lacing their fingers together and shooting her wife what she hoped was an optimistic smile.

All Beca could think about was how she would never be able to hold Chloe's hand while strolled down the street again. Her own hands would be too busy pushing her chair. She would never be able to surprise her with spontaneous dancing around the living room.

As they got closer to the rehabilitation room all she could think of where all the things she would never be able to do and it began to gnaw at the little optimism she was holding onto.

Then, as the reached the door, she saw Chloe reach out a hand to pull it open, the light in the hallway catching the gleam of her wedding and engagement rings and the reminder of Chloe's unwavering support settled the doubts in her head.

She needed to put her Captains badge on and think of the solutions instead of the problems, find a new way around the obstacles instead allowing them to intimidate her.

Once inside the room she looked around and was grateful that for her first few sessions she would be on her own. She couldn't handle watchful eyes just yet. She needed to gather her bearings and acclimate to her new routine.

"Okay, so I figure we'll just do some light upper body work to start building up your strength since that's going to be key to moving forward. After that I'll do some leg exercises with you since it's important to keep them stimulated. Chloe can help you with this."

Dave glanced at Chloe with a look of encouragement. The redhead seemed glad to hear that there would be something she could physically do to help. Beca knew her wife had been feeling a little useless with what she had been able to contribute.

Though Beca made it known that Chloe's love and support and just her mere presence was more helpful than anything any health professional could provide, she was aware of the fact that Chloe wanted to be hands on in Beca's recovery.

Knowing there was something that she could actually do, something she could get involved with besides being a sideline cheerleader was already doing wonders for her self esteem.

She didn't have to tell Beca for her to know that Chloe had been researching incessantly everything to do with paraplegia, even going so far as to take on board anything to do with heart related complications in the event something happened so she would know what to do.

It was the teacher in her, she needed to be informed and to feel like she had all the information so that she could proceed with whatever challenge lay ahead.

"You ready Beca?" Dave asked, his hands crossed in front of him, pointer finger extended towards the woman in question.

The brunette gazed up at him, then over at Chloe who was giving her an encouraging smile. She had to do this, for herself, for her wife, for her family. She needed to get over her own pride and pain and get to it.

"Yeah. Yeah okay, let's do this," she finally replied as her eyes lowered to her lap and around at her wheelchair wondering what was in store for her.

 _3 Hours Later..._

Back in the moderate comfort of her hospital room, Beca lay watching as Chloe helped to bathe her from her bed. It should've been natural, it wasn't like Chloe was seeing anything she hadn't seen before, but it still somehow felt embarrassing.

Maybe it had something to do with the catheter removing waste from her body since Beca couldn't actually feel the urge to go anymore. Regardless the reason, none of it seemed to faze her wife.

Chloe simply carried out the routine, as instructed by the nurses, and never batted so much as an eyelid. While comforting in one way, Beca did have to question how anyone could find it remotely attractive. Maybe that was the problem, she was inserting her own doubts onto Chloe without talking to her about it.

"How are you okay with this?" She suddenly asked, as if her voice had jumped on the thought and blurted it out.

Chloe frowned as she glanced up, confused as to where the conversation was going as she continued gently caressing Beca's abdomen with the warm soapy sponge.

"Okay with what?" She asked, stepping away from the bed to deposit the sponge back in the bowl and dying her hands off. After making sure her wife was clean and dry, Chloe ensured Beca was covered up and resting comfortably on the bed.

"This! This mess!," Beca shouted gesturing down towards herself. Chloe's mouth bobbed up and down, momentarily taken aback by her wife's outburst.

"Bec's this is all just temporary. It's not always gonna be like this," Chloe tried to reassure, taking a few steps closer and grabbing a hold of the brunettes hand. Beca just shook her head, her voice wet with unshed tears.

"What if it's not?" She whispered as her voice cracked around her words.

"I can't walk, I can't get myself out of bed, I can't control my own bladder..." Beca uttered the last part through gritted teeth, her cheeks tinged red with embarrassment.

She'd had an accident a few days before, the incident still very raw and Chloe could understand the frustration. It wasn't easy to be young and have this level of independence stripped away from you. But she refused to allow her wife to feel embarrassed about it.

"Hey, none of this is okay, alright, but none of it is your fault and I'm not gonna stand by and let you beat yourself up over something you can't control," Chloe argued back, resting one hand against her wife's pillow so that she was practically learning over the brunette, putting herself in a position of authority.

"You think any of this bothers me? You think what happened the other day or any of the tubes and wires bother me? About having to help bathe you? You think I care? Because let me make one thing very clear I DON'T!"

Beca cast a glance up at Chloe, seeing the stern features of her wife looking down upon her, daring her to argue back, to try and place undue doubt in Chloe's mind in some feeble attempt at pushing her away.

"I almost lost you! I placed my hand over your heart to stop the blood from leaving your body and pleaded for your life! I lived with the fear of not knowing whether or not I would have to live without you and it killed me."

Chloe's voice began to waver as a strangled sob tried to wrench itself free from her throat. She didn't want to be forceful with Beca but part of her knew there were going to be many moments ahead where this may be the only way to get through to her.

"So if I have to "deal" with helping you out of bed, or helping you bathe or "deal" with the occasional _accident_ then I will take it. I will take all of it because at least it means that you're here, and that I get to keep you with me."

Beca didn't miss the quotation marks, or the manic tone of her wife's voice. She could see the tensing of Chloe's muscles as she fought against her own frustration with Beca's weak attempts at pushing her away.

It wasn't fair, Beca wasn't being fair to her. All Chloe wanted to do was love her, help her, support her, but Beca's battered and bruised pride was seeping through to the surface like some toxic poison.

She actually felt ashamed when she finally looked up into her wife's eyes and saw the tell tale sign of tears. In that moment she felt worse than she ever had since she ended up in the hospital in the first place.

There were only two things that mattered most to Beca, making sure her girls were loved and that she lived every day in a way that they could be proud of her.

But it was hard to feel any sense of self pride when every day you were reminded of your new limitations. Hard not to get angry at her situation, and that sometimes manifested itself in heated arguments with her loved ones.

She didn't want to feel like a burden, she didn't want to feel so helpless all the time. Realistically she knew that time and hard work would play a big part in her recovery, in getting to a place where limitations wouldn't feel so debilitating. It was just hard to picture it when confined to the same four walls day in, day out.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, tears finally escaping her own eyes as her wounded pride was quickly replaced with overwhelming anguish over taking it out on her wife.

The redhead inhaled a deep breath through her nose and released it before taking a seat on the side of the bed.

"I get that this is hard for you, more than I think you realise. It's hard for me to see you like this. But trying to push me away, trying to push any of us away, it's not going to make this easier, it's going to make it so much harder," Chloe explained as she reached down for her wife's hand and laced their fingers together.

"I hate seeing you like this, not because of some selfish reasons but because I know you. I know how much your independence means to you. That's why I'm determined to help you get back to that place whatever way we can. But I need you to work with me."

Beca gazed down at their joined hands, listening to what Chloe was saying, trying to anchor herself to her words.

"I need you to find that strength, that courage you found that day when you risked everything for me and the girls. I need you to fight for us again. Because we love you and we need you."

There it was, the key that unlocked the chains that had been weighing Beca down. Shaking her head, she reached up her hand and wiped away her tears, fire beginning to burn in her stomach as the soldier in her seemed to be awakened.

"You're right. You're right, I'm sorry, it's just, this is harder than I thought it would be. I think today just really drove that home."

Chloe nodded her head in understanding, giving Beca's hand a squeeze to reinforce that feeling.

"I know," Chloe replied in a soothing tone as she gently stroke her wife's arm, "and it's going to be tough for a while but we'll get there. Together. Just remember what we talked about, communicate."

Beca tipped her head to signify that she understood and that the message had been received loud and clear. Chloe leaned down and gave her a soft languid kiss before resting their foreheads together.

"I'll fight for you too."

 _1 Month Later..._

"You must be Beca," Dr. Carter announced as he welcomed her, Chloe and John Beale at the reception area of the rehabilitation centre they'd just arrived at.

Beca shook his outstretched hand, followed by Chloe who had been pushing her chair. John followed suit, smiling at his old friend.

"Bob, it's good to see you," John said, Beca glancing back and forth between the two. John turned to his daughter and her wife and gestured to the doctor standing across from them.

"This is Bob Carter, an old roommate from college, he specialises in physical rehabilitation."

Beca seemed to nod their head in understanding as Chloe gave him a look that suggested she was familiar with him.

"It's nice to meet you doctor, and I don't mean to be rude but, why are we here?" She asked. The man chuckled and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his white coat.

"Please, call me Bob. The reason you're here Beca, is because as of today, you are a patient here at the centre."

Beca's brow furrowed in confusion and she turned to her wife and father in law who were both smiling at her with this look that spoke of sheer optimism.

"It's true Bec's," Chloe beamed as she took her wife's hand and crouched down next to her chair. Beca didn't look as certain about the whole thing.

"Chlo, we can't afford this. The medical bills from the hospital are already high enough, our insurance is barely covering it," Beca worried, expressing for the first time her concern about matters other than her recovery.

John Beale stepped forward and turned to face Beca, one hand in his trouser pocket, the other waving off her concerns about finances.

"It's all taken care of, all you have to do is focus on getting home to your family."

Beca turned to Chloe for confirmation that what John was saying was true and when she saw the look on her wife's face she turned back to her father in law.

"John, that's really thoughtful but it's too much..." before Beca could finish what she was saying John interrupted her.

"Beca, I watched you put your life on the line for your family and for this country. The least I can do as a father and a grandfather is make sure that you have access to the best care to get you home. You've sacrificed enough, don't sacrifice or compromise your health."

Chloe could see the conflict in her wife's eyes, caught between wanting to get better and fighting against her pride. From her crouched position Chloe leaned in closer and gripped Beca's hand tightly.

"Babe, this place is a state of the art facility, they specialise in rehabilitating soldiers. The centre can give you the care and attention you can't get at a busy hospital. It'll help get you home to us sooner."

Beca gazed down into ocean blue eyes and she could see her wife practically pleading with her to just forget about the money and focus on her recovery. She couldn't deny that being in a place where the sole focus was rehabilitation would help.

Being around fellow soldiers who were in the same situation would make her physical journey feel a little less lonely. Seeing that Beca was on the precipice of making a decision Bob jumped in.

"Beca, we don't treat the centre like a medical facility. Our aim is to help our patients transition back into their daily lives. The facility has a much more family oriented vibe. Every patient has their own room, there are family rooms and facilities to accommodate partners and kids. Chloe and the girls will be able to spend much more time with you here until you're ready to leave."

Beca would readily admit that being in the hospital didn't afford her the same quality time with her family that she would like. In fact it was probably the main reason her mood was so up and down.

She desperately missed her girls, she missed the intimacy of being with Chloe, just the two of them, without doctors or nurses interrupting. She missed that unit and felt like if she could get it back, it would motivate her in a way nothing else could.

"Okay," Beca said nodding her head, earning smiles from John and Bob. Chloe beamed up at her as she leaned up and kissed her.

The redhead was practically bursting with joy as she stood up, shaking Bob's hand and thanking him as Beca placed her hands on her wheels.

"So, when do we start?" She asked and Bob grinned at her, hiking his thumb over his shoulder.

"How about I show you to your room and after that we talk about your programme. The hospital knows you're here, they'll send over the discharge papers for you to sign off on. Your cardiac doctor will be making routine visits to make sure everything is okay, other than that, you're good to go."

Within five minutes, Beca was wheeling herself into a room that instantly felt more homely than her hospital room. The bed still had all the mechanics of a hospital bed, but the bedding looked much more comfortable.

There was a large tv on the wall, an ensuite, a kitchenette and when she looked more closely, she realised that there were a lot of comforts from home.

There were picture frames dotted around of family and friends, the one right next to her bed housing the last picture that been taken of her with her wife and daughters, all of them smiling.

There was even a small portion of her wall where someone had hung up pieces of arts and crafts made by Riley, and some by Charlie with Chloe's help. In the corner of the room sitting on a stand sat her guitar. Chloe leaned down over the back of Beca's chair and whispered in her ear.

"I may or may not have been by a few times to get everything set up."

Beca laughed, reaching up to grab Chloe's hand and bring it down to her lips to press a kiss to it. After a moment she turned her chair around.

"Okay, lets get started."


End file.
